As you know by now, Brian Roberts has left the Orioles for the New York Yankees on a one-year deal.
The Orioles (whether they wanted to or not) didn’t make re-signing him an immediate priority.
Roberts had to do what he had to do.
He was still a fit for the organization, as the Orioles really did not have a second baseman tabbed for the upcoming season.
However, once they traded Jim Johnson to Oakland for Jemile Weeks – the writing was on the wall for him.
Plus, if you add the fact that Baltimore has had a lackluster offseason with the free agent market so far, Roberts decided to start looking around at his options.
The New York Yankees had an opening at second base and he took it.
As a fan, it stings a bit that Roberts left Baltimore to head to the Bronx as they are hated rivals. I don’t think he leaving would have bothered me one bit (and perhaps to a lot of fans) if he went to let’s say, Milwaukee.
Roberts – in his 13 years with the Orioles – was a ‘face of the franchise’ in a prolonged down period, full of losing and rebuilding; however, seemed invisible for the past several years Baltimore suddenly became a winner.
That was a bit sad to see.
Although a lot of fans looked upon him negatively due to his injuries, the infamous four-year/$40 million that saw little production from the former All-Star, I will look back at him quite fondly in an Oriole uniform.
I saw him do a lot for charity in the region, including his ‘Baseball bash’ events, and work with the local hospitals. In addition, he seemed to sometimes go out of his way to sign for fans – especially the youngest ones. He came off as a man of faith, and relatively a nice guy who cared about the franchise, the city and those in need.
As well, Roberts is an undersized guy who was playing out his dream in the big leagues and throughout the injuries, concussions and whatever else, he fought to play on the field.
Maybe people saw a bit of themselves in him.
Big time sports is a ‘what have you done for me lately business’, and frankly, Roberts has not done much of anything. If you look at his stats over the past three years, you will know what I mean.
Despite all of that, I still think Roberts has something left in the tank, but he’s certainly not the player we all saw in the middle of last decade.
I wish him well as a Yankee.
