Second Baseman

According to team sources, the O's and their second baseman have basically come to terms on a four-year contract that would pay the All-Star player $40 million. sports

While continuing to discuss a long-term contract extension with Brian Roberts, the Orioles are closing in on a one-year deal with the second baseman that, in the short term, will help the two sides avoid salary arbitration. The one-year deal, which could be finalized and announced as early as today, according to a source close to the negotiations, likely will be for about $4.2 million, the midpoint of the arbitration figures filed by both parties in mid-January. Roberts asked for $4.6 million, and the Orioles offered $3.8 million.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- For the second consecutive winter meetings, the Orioles are involved in serious trade talks involving second baseman Brian Roberts. This time, it's the Chicago Cubs, a frequent trade partner of the Orioles and a team that needs a left-handed hitter, who are aggressively pursuing Roberts, according to several team sources. As of last night, no deal appeared imminent and one club source said he believed the winter meetings would end this morning without the Orioles having dealt any of their players, including Roberts, shortstop Miguel Tejada or ace left-hander Erik Bedard.

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- When Brian Roberts returned to his locker in Kansas City earlier this week, there waiting was a detailed analysis of his at-bats against Gil Meche, who was starting for the Royals the next day. The second baseman took a quick look at it and then tossed the reports into a clubhouse trash can. Roberts has always focused on himself, not the pitcher he is facing. And it doesn't seem to matter who Roberts is facing these days as he is in the midst of one of the best stretches of his career.

Offense -- He has below- average power and was a below-average hitter, which he isn't now. He's not a fast guy, but he has usable speed. He is an eighth- or ninth-place hitter but could bat second if a club has a need there. Defense -- He is adequate at second base. His hands are fine, but he doesn't have the arm for shortstop. He doesn't have the arm strength to make that throw from the hole. Role -- If he keeps hitting, he'll have a spot. I think he is a [Cubs manager Lou] Piniella- type guy. He is the type of manager that wants the gamers with good attitude and good makeup over raw talent guys.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Having struggled with the unknown for almost two weeks, the Orioles have learned what they consider good news regarding second baseman Delino DeShields.While nothing can be done about the condition before season's end, DeShields is suffering from an entrapment of a nerve in his right quadriceps that causes numbness. The Orioles concede the condition is limiting but only temporary. Manager Ray Miller, assistant general manager Bruce Manno and head trainer Richie Bancells met yesterday before explaining the injury to reporters.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Second baseman Delino DeShields and left-handed reliever Arthur Rhodes remained in Baltimore yesterday to undergo further examinations for conditions that have followed them for weeks and that may limit their availability for the rest of the season.Rhodes yesterday saw a hand specialist who examined his sore left index finger, injured more than two weeks ago in a game against the Chicago White Sox. DeShields will visit a doctor today in hopes of discovering the source of a left quadriceps injury.

CRACK! A dozen bench-sitters jump to their feet as the fat white ball arcs across a perfect blue sky.Players on the field run to intercept it, reaching out with large leather-gloved hands.The batter hustles along a faded chalk line toward a vinyl square, watching the ball as she goes. It lands on dry grass, bouncing away from the fielders. Her green-shirted teammates, already shouting, chant "Take second! TAKE second!"The batter turns the corner, heading for second base. In the field, a player moving in from the left scoops up the ball and fires it on the run to the waiting second baseman.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Second baseman Delino DeShields and left-handed reliever Arthur Rhodes remained in Baltimore yesterday to undergo further examinations for conditions that have followed them for weeks and that may limit their availability for the rest of the season.Rhodes yesterday saw a hand specialist who examined his sore left index finger, injured more than two weeks ago in a game against the Chicago White Sox. DeShields will visit a doctor today in hopes of discovering the source of a left quadriceps injury.

CLEVELAND -- In the second half of the 1997 season, an Oriole noticed that second baseman Roberto Alomar no longer was getting to balls up the middle that he usually fielded routinely.The player, sensing that Alomar was sulking in response to Davey Johnson's infamous fine, confronted his higher-paid teammate, asking him what was wrong."We're not all making $6 million," the player said. "I could use the playoff money."Alomar didn't respond.Baseball people routinely describe him as "high maintenance," but it's different in Cleveland, where Alomar is again emerging as one of the best players in the game.

CHICAGO - -On a night when the much-maligned Jeremy Guthrie pitched like the top-of-the-rotation starter that the Orioles hoped that he would be, diminutive second baseman Brian Roberts continued his transformation into the slugger nobody expects him to be. Roberts slammed two home runs off Chicago White Sox starter Gavin Floyd, including a tiebreaking, two-run shot in the eighth inning, as the Orioles prevailed, 5-1, in front of an announced 34,125 on...

Reimold's first hit Ballyhooed outfield prospect Nolan Reimold got his first major league hit in his fourth at-bat. Reimold hit a hard grounder up the middle in the seventh inning against reliever Ron Mahay. Royals second baseman Alberto Callaspo made a strong backhand stop, but his off-balance throw bounced in the dirt and first baseman Billy Butler couldn't hold on to it. It was ruled a single. First homer, sort of When Aubrey Huff hit a solo homer to right in the fourth, it was the first home run allowed by Kansas City starter Gil Meche in 45 2/3 innings this season.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -It hit Brian Roberts on Sunday, before he even had his first at-bat or experienced one of the highlights of his baseball career. "I take the national anthem seriously every day, but I was standing there, praying like I always do during the anthem, and then I opened my eyes and looked around and saw who was standing beside me and what uniform I had on," Roberts said of his indoctrination to Team USA and the World Baseball Classic. "I said to myself, 'Wow, this is for real.

According to team sources, the O's and their second baseman have basically come to terms on a four-year contract that would pay the All-Star player $40 million. sports

There is no question that Brian Roberts is a fine player and perhaps an even better community representative for the Orioles. Is he worth $40 million over four years? Maybe. Would it be a good signing for the Orioles? The answer is no. Roberts has put up some impressive numbers as an Oriole, but there is only one number that matters: 32, Roberts' age when the contract would go into effect in 2010. The Orioles would be paying $10 million a season for what likely will be four years of declining production.

If the Orioles are going to sign Brian Roberts to an extension, four years is the perfect length. Let's start with what they get in Roberts. He is perhaps the third-best second baseman in baseball behind Chase Utley and Dustin Pedroia, so he affords the Orioles a significant advantage over other clubs at a position that's thin on talent. Roberts will be 31 this season and 35 in the last year of the reported deal. Because he's a multi-faceted player with incredible devotion to fitness, logic says he should age well.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - For much of the past two years, Brian Roberts' future seemed to be somewhere besides Baltimore. But now the second baseman is about to be locked up as an Oriole for five years. According to team sources, the Orioles are finalizing a four-year, $40 million contract extension with Roberts, a homegrown talent who has developed into a two-time All-Star, one of the game's best leadoff men and one of the city's most beloved athletes. Roberts will make $8 million in 2009, and the four-year extension would start in 2010, meaning he would be under contractual control of the Orioles through 2013.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -The Orioles appear to be dotting the i's on a four-year contract extension for second baseman Brian Roberts, which creates an interesting juxtaposition, because the completed contract immediately will return the favor and tie up a number of loose ends for the organization. Club president Andy MacPhail laid out a fairly comprehensive list of things he wanted to accomplish when he agreed to the titanic job of salvaging the respectability of the once-proud Orioles franchise, and he has made good on much of that list.

Selig says A. Rodriguez 'shamed the game' baseball Bud Selig said New York Yankees star third baseman Alex Rodriguez has "shamed the game," though the baseball commissioner indicated no plans to punish the three-time American League Most Valuable Player. "I am saddened by the revelations," Selig said in a statement issued yesterday, four days after Rodriguez admitted he used unspecified drugs from 2001 to 2003 while playing for the Texas Rangers. Players and owners didn't agree to a joint drug program until August 2002, and testing with punishment didn't start until 2004.

Now that Nick Markakis is safely locked up through at least the 2014 season, it's only logical for the Orioles - and their fans - to turn their attention to second baseman Brian Roberts, whose contract situation and status with the team has been a dramatic production for the past couple of years. He's heading into the final year of a three-year contract that would have been longer if Roberts didn't have some doubts two years ago about the direction of the team. The Orioles appeared close to trading him to the Chicago Cubs last winter when they were disposing of Miguel Tejada and Erik Bedard for nice returns, and they considered an earlier deal with the Atlanta Braves for Adam LaRoche and Marcus Giles that they're pretty happy they didn't make.