J.J. Hardy signed a three-year extension with the Baltimore Orioles in October, removing him from speculation this spring.

"It's definitely nice knowing where you're going to be," Hardy said. "I know last year I wondered the whole time if I was going to be here or going to be somewhere else next year. It's just one less thing to think about. I think being able to just kind of focus on baseball and not really worry about any of that other stuff helps."

Hardy has a number of Baltimore teammates who are without a long-term deal.

"I feel like they're a little bit younger than I am," Hardy said. "You're talking about Matt [Wieters] and Chris [Davis], they both have Boras as an agent and he kind of does a lot more decision-making. For me, I told my agent (Mike Seal), 'I like it here. I want to stay here.' So it was more about him trying to work it out so I could stay.

"I think their situations may be just a little bit different when it comes to that, but either way I think they're in a good position for themselves and their families. For me, I signed here because we were good and I like what we have here, so I hope they stay."