MASN’s Roch Kubatko had this tidbit on Brian Roberts on his blog, and it could be of great importance assuming there’s any truth to the posting.
From MASN Sports: Brian Roberts always seems to be linked to the Chicago Cubs in trade rumors, but White Sox general manager Kenny Williams loves the guy and is trying to acquire him.
The two sides have discussed former Mount St. Joe pitcher Gavin Floyd as a starting point in trade talks. The Orioles might need more, though the White Sox would want it to be straight-up, since they’d be surrendering a 17-game winner.
At least Orioles president Andy MacPhail could say he brought a local kid home. It’s just not Mark Teixeira.
Anyway, that’s the buzz.
As much as I hate advocating this, I say if we could get another prospect or two to sweeten the deal — do it. Roberts may or may not sign an extension with Baltimore, and this point, he’ll more than likely be well into his mid-30’s before the team reaches contention.
It sucks, but give Roberts the dream of playing in September and being part of a pennant chase, rather than being on a team 20 games under .500 when all would be said and done.
After a shaky few seasons in the majors, Floyd was 17-8 with a 3.84 ERA and with 145 strikeouts in a breakout year in 2008. He’ll be 26 in a few weeks, he’s a local guy, and a 6-foot-4 righty.
If the deal looks good, and you get an indication that Roberts doesn’t want to be around for the rebuilding process in Baltimore, this might be a move worth making.
