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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Two days after the Baltimore Orioles declined the team's option on right fielder Nick Markakis, the two sides have made progress on a long-term extension, &lt;em&gt;The Baltimore Sun's&lt;/em&gt; Eduardo Encina reported Sunday.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Orioles on Friday announced they declined their part of a mutual option, opting to pay a $2 million buyout instead of paying the full $17.5 million that would have been owed to Markakis next season. But Encina&amp;nbsp;and MASN&amp;nbsp;Sports' Roch Kubatko reported the two sides are working on the framework of a long-term deal. Kubatko reported the team and Markakis are discussing a four-year deal.&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Orioles have exclusive negotiating rights with Markakis until 11:59 p.m. on Monday night, after which he will be free to negotiate with any team.&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022&amp;nbsp;Early odds: Dodgers, Nationals co-favorites to win 2015 World Series\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The 30-year-old&amp;nbsp;Markakis has spent his entire nine-year career with the Orioles. He was drafted seventh in 2003 and joined the team in 2006 after a stint in the minor leagues. In 2014, he helped the Orioles reach their first American League Championship Series since 1997. The Orioles, however, were swept by the Kansas City Royals.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In 155 games this season, Markakis hit .276 with a .342 on-base-percentage, .386 slugging percentage, 14 homers and 50 RBI. He also&amp;nbsp;hit .258 in 31 plate appearances against the Detroit&amp;nbsp;Tigers&amp;nbsp;and the &amp;nbsp;Royals&amp;nbsp;in the postseason.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;At an event on Saturday, Orioles manager Buck Showalter said he was confident Markakis would remain an Oriole.&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CI think we\u2019re going to keep working on it until we get something done,\u201D Showalter said. \u201CUsually those things have a way of working themselves out.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;-&lt;em&gt;Brett LoGiurato&lt;/em&gt;\r\n&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/mlb/2014/11/02/nick-markakis-orioles-contract-extension-talks-details>