Brian Roberts to have surgery, miss at least six more weeks

According to multiple sources, including this AP piece, Brian Roberts will not be ready to return to the field anytime soon. The surgery will take place today and will add six more weeks onto a recovery time that was originally supposed to be just about four weeks total.

On a personal level, I get pretty sad for Roberts when he gets hurt (again). With the lean years in recent Oriole history, he was one of the few bright spots and to see the end of his career marred with so many different injuries, it seems like he might never get a break again. This is the final year of his of four-year, $40M contract, so it's possible that it'll be his last year playing in the MLB, and it's a shame to go out that way.

As for O's manager Buck Showalter, he says that he believes Roberts will be back this season and will contribute. His quote:

I know what his goals are. He's very frustrated by it, as we are, but Brian Roberts is going to come back and make a contribution to this club this year. I've got a good feeling about that.

I certainly hope Showalter is right, but in the meantime the Orioles have got to be looking for other options to play second base, because Ryan Flaherty just is not cutting it. He is a complete black hole in the lineup and if the Orioles want to improve so that they can hopefully stay in contention throughout the season, that is the place to start.

The rumor mill has churned out Chase Utley and Howie Kendrick as possibilities, and it's true that if they want to improve they'll have to look outside the system, because no one in the minors is ready just yet. I was OK staying in a holding pattern when Roberts was scheduled to be out for a short time, but now is the time to act.