A wary camper

Roberts starts his spring still unsure of his future with Orioles

"I've tried to keep him apprised of where I thought things were," MacPhail said. "I know he's been the speculation of a lot of rumors, and I just wanted to give him the opportunity to ask any questions he wanted to ask and for me to tell him what I knew and what I thought. He was very careful and respectful not to really voice any trade demand or anything of that nature."

MacPhail said more than one team has shown interest in trading for Roberts, though the Cubs are believed to be the most aggressive suitor. Roberts called the Cubs "a great organization" and said Chicago would be a fun place to play. Roberts attended a 2003 National League Championship Series game between the Cubs and Florida Marlins as a guest of former teammate Jeff Conine and said he was amazed at the electric atmosphere at Wrigley Field.

At this point, the Cubs-Orioles trade talks, which have been going on for several months, are at a standstill and probably won't be resolved one way or another for a couple of weeks. The Orioles will scout several of their potential targets in trades during spring training games, which don't begin until late next week. That means Roberts' stay at Orioles' camp could last a little while.

"I tried to be as straightforward with him as I could about where we were and what I thought at this point so he knows," MacPhail said. "He's a pro's pro. It's been fine. I spoke with him this morning and actually the subject didn't come up. We talked about a couple of other matters."

Roberts also was forced to deal with other matters yesterday, specifically his December admission that he took a shot of steroids once in 2003. His admission was prompted by his inclusion in former Sen. George Mitchell's report on steroids in baseball.

"I told the truth. I made my statement. We'll move on from there," said Roberts, who wouldn't comment on what prompted his decision to try steroids. "It's life. You make bad decisions, you pay whatever price there is and you move on. It's not the end of the world. It's not the biggest thing in the world to me. It's really not. I've sincerely apologized, and I know I made a mistake."

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