Yankee Brian Roberts. (Update: Signs for $2M+)

[Bazooka Jones]

I'm gonna miss Brian. I just hope he had no other offers out there. If the Orioles were slow on him, which seems to be this case... This could have been motivation:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Brian Roberts 1327 games played . Zero in postseason. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23yankees&src=hash">#yankees</a></p>— Matt Yallof (@MattYallofMLB) <a href="

">December 17, 2013</a></blockquote>

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[Frobby]

Also, how could this catch them by surprise when I read a piece last week saying that the Yankees and Roberts' agent were having discussions during the winter meetings?

Perhaps the O's thought BRob would give them a chance to match whatever another team offered before accepting an offer from another team. But those are the chances you take when you haven't even reached out to the player's agent after the player has spent 14 years in your organization. While I'm OK with letting Roberts sign elsewhere, I don't think the Orioles always handle their communications very well.

[Capn Vivi]

I don't think signing B-Rob will help the Yankees into the post-season. Though his .768 OPS vs LHP last year wasn't so bad.

[Aglets]

Duquette is pretty good about pretending to be interested in bringing back a player who left for FA.

He did the same thing with Reynolds, after he was non-tendered.

http://baltimoresportsreport.com/orioles-mark-reynolds-rumors-34785.html

"Yea, we are interested in bringing him back, we'll see what happens."

Meanwhile reports surface that no contact has ever been made to the player's agent. If Angelos is seriously surprised that Roberts is gone then I guess even he fell for Duquette's schtick.

I understand not wanting to bring B-Rob back, but it does kill me for it to end this way, and I wish he had signed with ANY other team. Oh well, I'll still cheer for him when he's in Baltimore.

[FlipCup]

I don't blame him either, however, some will. On paper, he may have a better chance at a WS title, but there is obviously no guarantee.

Right, moving on from a player who is near the end of his career and replacing him with a younger player with more upside is not improving the team.

Are you joking to yourself? Explain to me where this team has improved this offseason?

I wasn't specifically talking about Roberts and 2B. I was talking about this team in general and in this off season.

[oriole]

Ellsbury, Roberts, Ichiro, Gardner...lots of speed on an old team.

I dont care a whole lot...if the O's wanted him back then he'd be back. He probably signed the only major league contract offered to him. Cant fault him for that.

O's PR taking a hit this off-season...

[Ruzious]

Perhaps the O's thought BRob would give them a chance to match whatever another team offered before accepting an offer from another team. But those are the chances you take when you haven't even reached out to the player's agent after the player has spent 14 years in your organization. While I'm OK with letting Roberts sign elsewhere, I don't think the Orioles always handle their communications very well.

I assume that if they wanted him back, they would have talked to his agent. They may say something else after the fact (like the Reynolds situation last offseason), but that would likely be PRspeak (aka lies).

[Os84]

I assume that if they wanted him back, they would have talked to his agent. They may say something else after the fact (like the Reynolds situation last offseason), but that would likely be PRspeak (aka lies).

Agreed. Duquette said that he could possibly have that conversation (about re-signing Roberts) at a later date. If he was truly interested in bringing him back, I think they would have at least had some preliminary talks by now.

[Frobby]

Duquette is pretty good about pretending to be interested in bringing back a player who left for FA.

He did the same thing with Reynolds, after he was non-tendered.

http://baltimoresportsreport.com/orioles-mark-reynolds-rumors-34785.html

"Yea, we are interested in bringing him back, we'll see what happens."

Meanwhile reports surface that no contact has ever been made to the player's agent.

Yep. Duquette paid lip service in both cases, but actions speak louder than words. I also wasn't thrilled with the way the O's left Bill Castro hanging for several days, they never called him to say what their process was, and that he had to learn that Dom Chiti had been hired by reading it on the internet. In all three cases, I don't think the O's handled things in a very classy way. I was fine with the decisions they made, but a little communication beforehand would have been the classier way to go.

[russ snyder]

Are you joking to yourself? Explain to me where this team has improved this offseason?

I wasn't specifically talking about Roberts and 2B. I was talking about this team in general and in this off season.

I'm not joking to anyone especially myself. However, it is kind of funny that you think that the Orioles not making any moves to upgrade the team had a part in Roberts's decision. ( It could have, but I think that the fact that he was offered a deal by the Yankees played a bigger role in the decision.)

At this point, the Orioles may be behind the curve in improving the team. However, there is still plenty of time to add talent through free agent signings and trades. Besides, some of the best moves are the ones that you do not make. Not resigning Robeerts is one of them IMO.

I was talking about Roberts and 2b. The Orioles have upgraded by moving on IMO. They have a younger player with more upside that they can depend on to play.

[Number5]

I don't blame him. This will be looked at badly but as stated earlier in the thread, not many teams were offering him much. Also, he has a better chance at a WS title with them before he retires.

Why would he want to play out his last year or two with a team who does not want to improve?

I'm sorry, I don't understand the bolded sentence at all. If the Orioles were to sign BRob, now that would be a possible indication of a team that did not want to improve. It seems to me that letting him go indicates just the opposite. It will be strange seeing him in a Yankee uniform, but neither the Orioles nor BRob did anything wrong here. The Orioles needed to move on and BRob naturally wants to continue earning money playing baseball.

[TiredofLosing20]

Yep. Duquette paid lip service in both cases, but actions speak louder than words. I also wasn't thrilled with the way the O's left Bill Castro hanging for several days, never called them to say what their process was, and that he had to learn that Dom Chiti had been hired by reading it on the internet. In all three cases, I don't think the O's handled things in a very classy way. I was fine with the decisions they made, but a little communication beforehand would have been the classier way to go.

This organization is/has been classless for many years. Maybe you can replace classless for dysfunctional maybe you can call them both but they rarely handle things correctly.

[Guest]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Trouble in warehouse? <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Roberts&src=hash">#Roberts</a>’ signing with <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Yankees&src=hash">#Yankees</a> seemed to catch <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Orioles&src=hash">#Orioles</a> by surprise. Roberts longtime fave of owner Peter Angelos.</p>— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) <a href="

">December 17, 2013</a></blockquote>

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[crawjo]

This doesn't affect me one way or the other. Roberts was a good player for us for a long time. But I think he's mostly cooked, especially defensively. But best of luck to him in the future.

[Number5]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Trouble in warehouse? <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Roberts&src=hash">#Roberts</a>’ signing with <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Yankees&src=hash">#Yankees</a> seemed to catch <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Orioles&src=hash">#Orioles</a> by surprise. Roberts longtime fave of owner Peter Angelos.</p>— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) <a href="

">December 17, 2013</a></blockquote>

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No agenda there. :rofl: