BALTIMORE -- Moments before Nick Markakis dragged his pen across his new contract, Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail pronounced his offseason a success. On Thursday, MacPhail said that signing Markakis to a six-year extension worth $66.1 million was his major priority this winter, and one he relished completing.

"If we had to choose one thing that we accomplished in the offseason, I think this would be the one thing," said MacPhail. "And it's also very appropriate that it's one of our own players -- a homegrown, drafted and developed player. The reasons for it are pretty simple and straightforward. In our opinion, Nick, at 25 years old, is already one of the premier outfielders in all of baseball. ... We think the best is yet to come."

Markakis may have been the team's chief priority, but he didn't come cheap. The right fielder signed the second-most lucrative contract in franchise history, paling only in comparison to Miguel Tejada's six-year free-agent contract worth $72 million. Tejada played four seasons with Baltimore before he was traded to the Astros last winter.

In terms of this contract, the perks go well beyond the average annual salary. Markakis received a partial no-trade clause and a $2.1 million signing bonus as part of his deal, a payout that will be completed by April 2010. Markakis will make $3 million in '09, and the base salary will incrementally increase to $15 million by '14.

The contract also includes a club option for $17.5 million for the 2015 season, and the Orioles can buy that out for $2 million if they'd prefer to cut ties by that point. Markakis, meanwhile, can void that option year even if Baltimore attempts to pick it up, but by doing so, he'd forfeit the buyout price associated with it.

Those considerations are still a long way off, and Markakis said he was just happy to be done with it. The former first-round Draft pick is locked up through his arbitration years and won't have a chance to test free agency until 2014 at the earliest, but he said he wasn't really concerned with that and that he's more centered on helping his team.

"It was a fairly easy decision," Markakis said of his extension. "Believe it or not, I read the paper. I like to keep up with the team [and] see what's going on, and I think that had a big play into my decision. The money's definitely good. It's security. But you want to see the direction of where your team's going. The way Andy's been handling this, [and] since he's been here, I don't think I can complain with one move or one decision he's made."

Markakis, who has settled in as a run producer and defensive stalwart in right field, has racked up a .299 batting average through his first three seasons. That average makes him one of just 46 players who have done that or better in their first three big league seasons, and 18 of those players went on to make the Hall of Fame.

While that's a debate for a day far into the future, Markakis has improved through each of his seasons. The left-handed hitter was named Most Valuable Oriole by the local media in 2007, and last year he set career highs in average (.306), on-base percentage (.406) and slugging (.491). He also led the American League with 17 outfield assists.

"As an organization, this is an event we hope to try to duplicate and replicate many times over," MacPhail said. "There is nothing that is more prideful to an organization than having one of its young players sign this kind of an extension. I hope that I'm here or somebody else is here doing this kind of thing over and over again. It's a great thing for an organization, and I think it sends the right signals to our players playing and developing in the Minor Leagues."

The Orioles are generally hesitant to hand out no-trade clauses in their contracts, with deals for Melvin Mora and Ramon Hernandez serving as two recent exceptions. But both MacPhail and Markakis said that it was an important part of the player's commitment to the team, and a palatable one when you consider the specific situation.

"There's a pretty simple equation that the bigger the hometown discount, the more protection a player gets," said MacPhail of the clause, which allows Markakis to name eight teams he can't be traded to without consent. "The closer to full retail a player gets, the less protection that they get.

"I can understand where somebody could rightfully believe that [they] can get more from this team but didn't want to go there. In exchange for that, I think they deserve some protection for that."

"It was one of the big things in the deal that we wanted, with the decision to make this my year-round home up here," said Markakis. "My wife being pregnant and my first kid on the way, there are just some places you don't feel comfortable going to. That was a big factor and important in this deal."

Markakis, who ranks seventh in franchise history in career batting average and 10th in slugging percentage (.476), said that he really didn't consider it much of a sacrifice to delay his first shot at free agency by three years. If he hadn't signed his extension, Markakis would've been able to test the open market after the 2011 season.

"When you go through those situations and scenarios, you look at that," Markakis said. "We sat down with scenarios and where I would be in three years, hitting free agency. But you never know where you're going to end up. But with the way this team is growing -- and like I said before, with the moves since Andy's been here -- I can't complain about one move he's done. He really knows his stuff and he's done a lot for this organization. I think that's important."