Roberts to Cubs pretty much dead

The birthday weekend was great but now with the season fixing to kickoff it’s time to get to it.

Ken Rosenthal says that the much much much much talked about Brian Roberts trade to Chicago Cubs is dead, with a few sidebars.

-Its very unlikely to happen before opening day

-Barring an ‘llth hour resolution’ it won’t happen.

I’m sick of seeing all the articles rehashing the same old same old with this topic. At some point during the season, Roberts needs to be traded. MacPhail can waited til next season…but Roberts has two years left on his deal so his value would be higher with more time left on his deal.

If the O’s have passed on the supposed Cubs’ deal, I’m cool with that. Sean Gallagher would be a nice pickup but the rest of the package doesn’t do much for me. Matt Murton was rumored. I’ve said before I wouldn’t mind having him and I still won’t, but he’s appears to be nothing more than a 4th outfielder. I’d take him over Jay Payton and Jay Gibbons in a heartbeat. Ronnie Cedeno flopped in his debut with the Cubs and might be a slight upgrade over Luis Hernandez and Brandon Fahey. Sean Marshall is a streaky young pitcher who the O’s apparently like and Donald Veal…eh…

So the deal is basically Roberts for a potential good young pitcher in Gallagher, two players who’ve flopped with the Cubs with Cedeno and Murton, and either a streaky pitcher who hasn’t done much yet in majors with Marshall or a pitching prospect in Veal. Its not a horrible package. One of either Gallagher or Marshall/Veal will probably be a good pitcher. Murton would be a solid 4th outfielder at worst. Cedeno would be a filler in the roster. The old classic change of scenery argument could be said, it worked wonders with Corey Patterson didn’t it?

There are going to be teams that will need a leadoff hitting second baseman during the course of the season and there will likely be better offers. I wouldn’t have been upset if the O’s would have taken that package but I’m cool with them passing on it. We’ve done plenty of trades with the Cubs and there’s other teams that could be a better fit.

So hey, the season starts tomorrow but unless you live Japan or are able to watch baseball during the weekday mornings without working, it doesn’t count.