Orioles Rumors: Roberts Deal, McCrory

good. keep him out of the division. besides, the Jays are moving backwards as a franchise. we might sneak past them this year

What do you mean by "roberts should just play baseball"? You don't think he should be allowed to protect his (and his new wife's) best interest? The fact that the Orioles won't consider trading him anytime before 2013 aside, Roberts has every right to have in his contract that he would not want to be traded to certain teams in locations he doesn't want to go. Did you say "Peavy should just play baseball" when he was telling the Padres where he would and wouldn't allow himself to be traded? Or, how about "Giles should just play baseball" when he decided against letting himself be traded to Boston last July? What about you? Do you work for a company that has offices in other cities? Should you "just go to work" if the company decides they need you to work in an office 1500 miles away?

Maybe I'm reading into this more than was there, but at some point the whole "the players are making so much money they should just shut up and play ball" argument gets stupid.

Silly of Roberts to waste one of his no trade teams on the Blue Jays. No chance they're interested and no chance the Orioles would trade him there. Royals make sense obviously.

rockstrongo,
If you read the article, it basically is a very limited no trade clause until he becomes a 10-5 player anyways.

I'm divided on the Roberts signing, given the Orioles' timetable for success- they may have been better off waiting things out and checking out the trade landscape toward the deadline. There's some question whether any contenders would really need Roberts or whether they would offer any real premium prospects, but you can make a case for playing wait and see. As an O's fan, I love Roberts and there's a lot to be said for a guy as good on the field and in the community; a true leader and legit star. Still, if at all possible, a TOP prospect or two might've been preferable. I guess McPhail figured, 'a bird in hand...' and there's a ton of projection and uncertainty to the seeing what's out there, but the alternative was signing a second baseman whose game is predicated upon speed, to a four year extension beginning at age 32 and ending when he's 36. On the plus hand, its not an entirely unwieldy contract; $10M/per isn't out of control. Still, it won't be an easy deal to move for at least the first two years...and after that, his numbers will likely begin to decline. Looking at the O's over the past few years, with a ton of useless vets, I question the wisdom. On the other hand, sentiment and present value...as well as the relatively reasonable deal, lead me to stalemate. For now I suppose I'll trust that MacPhail knows what he's doing and that the prospective returns wouldn't have made a trade worth it. I wish that it were a 2 or 3 year contract, giving the Birds more flexibility, but that wasn't in the cards. I'll live. It isn't like we have anyone in the system close to being ready to take over for BRob, and this deal coincides with a basic timetable for LJ Hoes, so...

Roberts- barring injury- shouldn't drop off too much, given his attention to conditioning and late-bloomer status, and the new deal doesn't run through some ancient age. While he's likely to drop off a bit, I would be surprised if its a dramatic slide. Altogether it's...OK. By 2011, with Markakis, Jones, and either Pie or Reimold making up one of the more dynamic young outfields in baseball, Wieters behind the dish, Roberts at second, and a staff that could include Jeremy Guthrie, Chris Tillman, Brian Matusz, Jake Arrieta, and Brandon Erbe- for instance- there's a chance BRob DOES finally get a shot at competing. He definitely deserves it.

Oh and rockstrongo... OPS is one friggin' stat. This is what I absolutely HATE about sabermetric D-bags!!! Whenever they want to make a value-based point, they break out the stats and find one that makes a guy look like butt. No, BRob doesn't have a high slugging percentage- he doesn't hit a ton of home runs. BUT, he does have solid power for a second baseman, including very good gap power (look at his extra base hits), and, more importantly, has a very high OBP, sees more pitchers per at bat than nearly any hitter in the AL, steals a ton of bags, plays an excellent second base (although that, again, can be presented one way or another, depending on the stats used), plays a tremendous role in the community (not relevant as a player, but it does matter re: contract), and is an excellent clubhouse leader. You...are an idiot.

Unless I'm missing something, the contract spells out the possibility of any trade happening sooner rather than later based on the escalating no trade clauses as he ages. I do find it funny though that some people are standing on the edge of fan-based bridges ready to jump over this contract. If Roberts played for another team with exactly the same stats and we signed him as a free agent this off season then these people would be grinning ear to ear. Sometimes the best trades are the ones you don't make.