Orioles' Roberts of interest to Cubs
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- On an otherwise slow day, a new flavor emerged Wednesday involving the Cubs: Baltimore Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts.
The Cubs appear highly interested.
Reports out of Baltimore indicate that the Orioles are willing to move Roberts and that the Cubs may offer multiple players for the switch-hitting second baseman.
It'll take at least two players and possibly three as Cubs insiders indicated that Roberts is an attractive player to them.
The 30-year-old Roberts batted .290 with a nice .377 on-base percentage this year, well above his lifetime OBP of 351. For those into advanced stats, Roberts' VORP (value over replacement player, or the amount of runs Roberts would contribute as opposed to a replacement-level player) was 48.6, or 28th in all of baseball. That's the same VORP put up by Cubs star first baseman Derrek Lee.
The Baltimore Sun reported that Cubs general manager Jim Hendry and Orioles president Andy MacPhail (who was president of the Cubs for 12 years) had lunch for more than an hour Tuesday.
The Cubs still are looking for a middle infielder after losing out to Houston on free agent Kaz Matsui.
"Anybody that can hit left-handed and can run and that can play in the middle of the infield, we would certainly still look into," Hendry said. "In a perfect world, I wouldn't mind adding a player through free agency and one through trade."
Hendry already has said he won't trade left-hander Rich Hill or center-field prospect Felix Pie, so he may offer MacPhail a package that could include lefty Sean Marshall, right-hander Sean Gallagher and/or outfielder Matt Murton.
Roberts will make $6.3 million in 2008 and $8 million in 2009. That's in line with what the Cubs can afford, but whether Orioles owner Peter Angelos is willing to part with Roberts remains to be seen.
The Cubs' pursuit of Japanese outfielder Kosuke Fukudome does not seem any further along than it did at the start of the winter meetings, but sources indicate Fukudome could declare his intention to come to North America over the next couple of days. Once that happens, it's possible he could have a new team by next week.
Look for the Cubs to make a big multiyear offer to get Fukudome to fill their gaping hole in right field.
If the trade market seems slow for the Cubs, manager Lou Piniella offered one theory.
"Things have to fall in place for us," Piniella said. "He (Hendry) promised me, though, by Christmas, I'll be very happy. Things take time to materialize. We've got a fairly good game plan.
"At the same time, things that we'd be interested in doing now, other teams want us to wait a little bit. I like our game plan. Just have some patience, and it'll come to fruition."