#TheBrianRobertsWatch: Going, Going, Gone?

As the sand runs short on the 2013 season, so too does time for Brian Roberts as an Oriole. The second base question is still open for next year, but unless Roberts is willing to accept a bargain basement deal, and the possibility of not winning the job (or making the club), the Red Sox series represents his last 9 innings in orange and black.

Sure, it’s possible he’ll be back next year, but it seems unlikely, as it would require Roberts to take a bargain basement contract, with no guarantees to start (or even make the club). We’ve talked ad nauesum on the podcast about options for next year. Ryan Flaherty and Jonathan Schoop are possible solutions, but raise as many questions with inexperience and ineffectiveness as Roberts does with his age and penchant for injuries. Going outside the organization seems an unlikely choice, as the free agent market is thin, and the O’s have a lot of other places they’re going to have to spend for the 2014 season.

Every time he does something positive, I wonder “is the last time I’ll get to watch him do this?” In each game, he’s pleasantly surprised. Roberts hit a solo HR last night, his 8th in just 261 ABs. It will be interesting to see what kind of send-off the fans give him. Will they realize the magnitude of his final at bat of the game? Will they remember to take a second to thank Brian Roberts for a providing a little light in dark times? His career may not have been perfect –  he may not have been perfect. But for a while, he was the best we had, and a pleasure to watch 

Hopefully, he can give us something to cheer about in this, the final game of the season, and very possibly, the final Brian Roberts Watch.

Tip your cap, Birdland. This one may be going, going, gone.