I am a fan of Brian Roberts and know that he is a fan favorite in Charm City. However, I am a fan of being realistic. 4 years for $40 million? Markekis is much younger and has a higher upswing (rationalizing why he got a huge deal), but Roberts is in his 30's and his reputation is already tarnished for admitting to using a banned substance. My take is to trade him for prospects if he is not willing to stay in a city that loves him for a discount.

Great news Pete. Thanks for your updates. I'd like to read some interesting off season stories from the players. Anyone travel out of the country or do any charity work, etc?

A Roberts extension would mean two things: he believes that the club is going in the right direction and he wants to be part of the future, and MacPhail believes that he has stockpiled enough young pitching that he doesn't have to trade his most marketable player to try and get more.

I will miss those persistent trade rumors, though. If the season goes poorly, we might need something else to keep us interested in August and September. Maybe that loveable free spirit Aubrey Huff could start a blog that he can update in his hotel room after games. He could call it "Porn to be Wild."

Even when Brian grounds out to lead off the game, the starting pitcher has usually already thrown 10-12 pitches in Brian's at bat alone. He needs to stay.

4 for $42M+

The issue of whether to trade or sign Brian Roberts is a tough one and there are very logical arguments for both sides. As a long time Oriole fan, I like to see the really good players who come up thru the Oriole farm system stay around for most, or all, of their careers. Seeing Brian Roberts at 2B every day helps keep me interested and will help get me out to the ballpark at least a couple times this year. I know we're rebuilding and I'm fully behind MacPhail and "The Plan", but I don't wanna see Roberts traded for prospects. He's an ORIOLE --- period! The Tejada and Bedard deals were much easier to stomach because they were both malcontents (even though Bedard had come up thru the farm system) and both had high trade value. I hope they announce that Roberts has signed a new contract in the next couple days. He's ours, and win or lose, I still think that's important.

However bad the economy is now, however much older Brian Roberts is than Markakis, however far the Birds are from being competitive in the AL East, I'm gonna be crying in my beer if they can't get it done and sign Roberts long-term.

I'm getting older and starting to wonder whether I'll ever see my beloved Orioles in a post-season again. But if they can't sign the guys who've kept them from being the Pirates, then they're not worth worrying about. I'll just bite the bullet, sign up for DirecTV's all-team television coverage, and switch over (after more than a half-century) to rooting for the Red Sox.

Wow, just get it done.

I think Brian will be a productive player for at least 4 more years so I have no problem with that length of contract.

Thanks for the updates. Hopefully Roberts can sign and we can move on. I'm heading down there this w/end. Should be there in time to watch the Terps/unc game on Saturday afternoon at the local sports bar. What a way to start the week off... Do the O's practice at all this Sunday?

Diehard Fan.

4 years is way to long for a 31 year old. Have we not learned one lesson from the last 10 years? All personal feelings aside the O's have to be ran like a business if we are to have any chance over coming the 2 Evils. I know the people who disagree with me are going to say who will play 2nd Base....but we are a 4-5th place team in 2009 & 2010 so one position isn't going to make or break us.

I think most are in agreement that B-Rob's probably got a few good years left. Hopefully he won't decline before the end of this deal -- I don't see that happening.

As much as I believed that the O's should have traded him to get some value, he would have left an enormous void at the top of Baltimore's lineup. If the Orioles are going to improve this year, it's not going to be offense, it's going to be pitching. The same old story we've been dealing with for a few years now.

I like this move. Hopefully the Birds aren't far away, but I guess only time will tell after this 11, soon-to-be 12, year drought...

i wish people would stop using the term 'discount' when referring to pro contracts. a 'discount' is something you get at the mall, shopping for a tie or shoes.

We sign Roberts to a long term deal and this off-season has to be judged an outstanding success.

1) Locked in our two best players for the long term.

2) Vastly improved our defense in both the outfield, catching and infield.

3) Another year for our young arms to mature.

4) Some real possibilities with some starter pitcher signings like Hill, Pauley and the sushi guy.

Add in the improved defense and our pitching should also improve.

Could be an interesting year.

I think that the anticipated price tag is too much if you are judging merely by on-field value.But this goes well beyond statistics. Roberts is probably the face of this franchise right now, and his staying means that he has faith in its future. Keeping him signifies to the rest of Baseball that this organization is serious about improving its product.

They have to sign him-period.

Everyone is missing the real point here IMO. Once again MacPhail has played this perfectly. He did not get an offer last year for Brian that gave more value than we got from keeping Brian. Supposedly he got even lesser offers this year. Throw in Orlanod Hudson sitting on his butt all winter waiting to be signed and it is obvious that no one is going to pony up for a second baseman. Brian and his agent has to see that he has no market and translate that into a weak market for him when he hits the market as a free agent a year older. So once again the Jacks of the world who attribute everything to Angelos being cheap, are flying in the face of the facts. There was NO reason to throw wads of money at Brian when, by being patient and reading the market correctly, you could sign a fair deal, as it looks like we are nearing now.

At this point keeping him is really the only option. If they were going to trade him they should have done it last year. They'll never get anything near what they would have gotten for him, and they eneded up getting Felix Pie anyaway. and it would be nice to see him play his career in Baltimore.

Brian is a solid leadoff hitter with good speed and is above average defensively. With Wieters behind the plate, Roberts at second, Itzuris at SS, and Jones in CF the O's will have the kind of up the middle strength that contending teams need.

while i do believe 40 mil over 4 yrs is a little extreme, the orioles need his leadership and veteran presence in the clubhouse.. Brian means alot to the city of baltimore, on and off the ball field..