The Baltimore Orioles appear to have tough decisions ahead.

According to CBS' Jon Heyman, their plans for the future could include designated hitter/outfielder Nelson Cruz, but outfielder Nick Markakis' future is less certain.

In a column posted prior to the Orioles' playoff elimination at the hands of the Kansas City Royals on Friday, Heyman wrote that the team was likely to extend a qualifying offer to the pending-free-agent Cruz, while exercising a buyout on Markakis' 2015 option. 

Qualifying Cruz will cost the Orioles $15.3 million.

Cruz, signed to a one-year deal prior to the 2014 season for $8 million, enjoyed a standout season with the American league East champions. The 34-year-old bounced back from a 2013 campaign that was marred by a 50-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs to post career highs in home runs (40) runs batted-in (108) and runs scored (87). He won the AL home run crown for the first time in his career.

Markakis, meanwhile, will receive a $2 million buyout.

He has an option worth $17.5 million, but the team is reportedly loath to pay such a high price.

A career Oriole, Markakis had a down year with the team, hitting .276 and hitting just 14 home runs for a career-low 50 RBI. Markakis has spent nine seasons with Baltimore, posting a career average of .290 and twice eclipsing the 100-RBI plateau.

Heyman added that "Markakis has "been a favorite of owner Peter Angelos (and others in the organization) so a return, at a lower rate, wouldn't be a surprise."

Markakis signed his current deal prior to the 2009 season. The six-year, $66.1 million extension means that the Orioles would have to pick up the option to not risk the 30-year-old having the ability to test free agent waters.