That headline is music to the ears to Orioles fans.  Jeff Zrebiec of the Sun is reporting that Orioles president of baseball operations, Andy MacPhail, is in talks with J.J. Hardy’s agent to extend his current one year contract.

Ben Nicholson-Smith of MLBTradeRumors.com summed up the importance of this move best in his article posted on Wednesday evening.

With free agency a few months away, Hardy is having his best season in years. The 28-year-old has a .303/.367/.548 line with 11 homers, nine of which have come in June. Talks haven’t gotten serious between Hardy and the Orioles, but they could pick up this month.

Though top shortstop prospect Manny Machado has an .829 OPS in his first year as a professional, the 18-year-old has yet to play above Class A. The Orioles appear to want to limit an extension for Hardy to two years.

At BSR, we’re are definitely on the Hardy bandwagon. I know O’s fans would love to see the team lockup a guy that bridges the gap between now and Machado and fills in for Brian Roberts at leadoff.