About Last Night; What About Roberts?

Eight straight losses; a bullpen that cannot hold the lead (God bless Jamie Walker — I love the guy personally, but he’s been very ineffective); players now going through the motions; of course, our annual swoon — only 5-24 in the last 29 games???

After a season that looked to be somewhat promising and that could have energized a fan base looking for something, anything to latch onto, the baseball Gods have punished us once again. Well, after watching the Orioles lose to the Rays in both games of their doubleheader on Tuesday, I have thrown up my hands. The team -- more or less, the bullpen -- blew the second game for Alfredo Simon -- who looked great and could be a budding arm in the rotation.

At least there is some promise, but...

What do we do? At this point, we as fans might have to suffer through losing and hope our talent comes through the lower levels and improves — if does it even happen. The Orioles are starting to build a system — however, it has to work from the ground up, and we are a ways bit from being an elite one much like what the Red Sox, Angels, Marlins or even Yankees have.

Being that the Orioles are at such a perilous state -- let's ponder a question that took up an inordinate amount of my time during the winter, and fans' time on blogs, message boards, Orioles Hangout, and on sports talk radio.

The issue of Brian Roberts.

This morning, Sun columnists Bill Ordine and Kevin Eck discuss in a point-counterpoint fashion when it comes to keeping the venerable second baseman around (Ordine is against keeping him; while, Eck is for having him stay here).

Folks, this is my take -- again.

Everyone and their mother loves Roberts, not only for his play on the field, but being a great representative off the field (sans the steroid stuff) in the Baltimore community.

As a fan, I would not want him to go; however, realistically, as a baseball head, if he brought me X amount of prospects, and a golden arm or two -- because we need it -- he's dealt.

If this team were around .500 or so, I'd take the risk and sign him to extension; alas, since Baltimore is only a .430 at best, the resources should be devoted to building a team from the ground up -- not keeping beloved figures around for a bloated salary.

A team like the Cubs could have used him this year to get the promised land; however, a team like the Orioles would have still finished well in the second division.

Most every team now -- including the Yankees and Red Sox -- know that you build your team in the minors, and use free agency as a tool only to plug in spots for a team that's on the brink of contention.

The Orioles do not.

A team like the Red Sox are not only successful because of their market size, and the money they spend -- it's because they have sometimes gotten rid of popular players (Pedro Martinez, Lowe, Nomar Garciaparra - who was head to the Hall of Fame before he had the injurt bug hit him one too many times - Bronson Arroyo, and countless others) were dealt in order to build the 2008 version. They relied on guys like Lester, Ellsbury, Youkilis, and youngsters like Jed Lowrie to get where they are today.

Baltimore must have the same line of thinking. Winning is what matters, and much like in business, sometimes you have to take a risk to become successful; thus, if the opportunity comes again where Roberts might be traded, and the deal is right -- it needs to be done for the good of the Orioles.

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