Orioles Close to Signing Brian Roberts to 4-Year Extension

For the last couple of years Baltimore Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts has made it clear he'd love to get a contract extension that would keep him in Baltimore for possibly the rest of his career. Yet, no matter how much Brian wanted to stay, neither he nor the team could ever come to terms, which led to a whole lot of trade rumors.

In fact, I'm pretty sure that Roberts had been theoretically traded to the Chicago Cubs or White Sox about 32 times over the last 24 months, but time and again, any possible deal always fell through. Well, it looks like all the Brian Roberts trade rumors are about to come to an end, for now anyway, as the Orioles are close to signing him to a four-year extension.

According to team sources, the Orioles are finalizing a four-year, $40 million contract extension with Roberts, a homegrown talent who has developed into a two-time All-Star, one of the game's best leadoff men and one of the city's most beloved athletes. Roberts will make $8 million in 2009, and the four-year extension would start in 2010, meaning he would be under contractual control of the Orioles through 2013.

Apparently the terms of the contract have been agreed to by both sides, and it does include some sort of no-trade clause, but it's not a full no-trade. Plus, Roberts does have to pass a physical first, and if Tyson Chandler has taught us anything in life, it's that we shouldn't take physicals for granted.

As for the deal, I don't think this ever happens if the Orioles are able to sign Mark Teixeira, and I'm not sure that this deal should have happened. Has Roberts been one of the better leadoff hitters in baseball over the last few years? Yes, but he's also 31 now and his name did show up in the Mitchell Report.

Unless he can defy age and time Roberts' production is bound to dip over the next few seasons, and in a few years this contract could be quite the albatross. So while we won't be hearing any Roberts trade rumors this season, we can probably start them up again in June 2010.