Lately, there has been a lot of local discussion lately that Brian Roberts (and a perceived lack of effort) is one of the problems facing the Baltimore Orioles.
I see this conjection and discussion about Roberts as a total non-issue.
He has a career .772 OPS, and is at .780 this year.
He has 32 doubles this year, and a SLG% in-line with the past 2 seasons.
He was caught-stealing 3 times in April, including the first 2 games of the season. Overall he has gone back to career norms, being caught-stealing a total of 5 times, with 20 steals.
He has hits in 5 of the 6 games since the All-Star break, including two 3 hit games. This gives me some optimism that he will end his 2 year-run of less production in the 2nd-half.
He has a 4 year extension that was signed in February, and is not going anywhere this July.
The elite core you are putting in-place is Markakis, Jones, Wieters, Tillman, Matusz, and Arrieta.
Just under that is the Roberts, Scott, Reimold, Snyder, Bergesen, Hernandez tier of players… Roberts might be older than the rest of the core you want to move forward with, but he is part of the group, and will be for the forseeable future.
He acknowledged that something was hindering his game, and he has addressed that.
Brian Roberts is not part of the problem, he is part of the solution. That might not be the case for the duration of his contract, but it is the case right now.
Owner
Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.