Brian Roberts (with Orioles from 2001-2013)
.278/.349/.412, 1327 G, 5905 PA, 102 OPS+ (with Orioles)
Choosing Brian Roberts over Bobby Grich was difficult. Grich actually provided more Wins Above Replacement (WAR) as an Oriole than Roberts, but Roberts is the team leader in games played at second base. Grich played for the team for seven years; Roberts was with the Orioles for 13. Grich was as well known for his time with the Angels as with the Orioles, while Roberts played almost his entire career in Baltimore. For that longevity and some strong seasons mid-career, Roberts is the choice as the starter at second base.
Roberts came up to the big leagues as a 23-year-old in 2001, but struggled in 75 games, hitting .253/.284/.341. It took him a few years to become a full-time starter. His first above average season was 2004, when he hit .273/.344/.376 and led the American League with 50 doubles. He also stole 29 bases. At this point, he had established himself as a low-power second baseman who could steal 20-30 bases per year.
Then came the 2005 season. Roberts exploded for a career-high 18 home runs and set career highs in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage, hitting .314/.387/.515. He was an all-star for the first time and finished 18th in MVP voting.
The 2005 season was easily the best of his career, but Roberts continued to be productive through the rest of the decade. From 2005 to 2009, he averaged 150 games per year and hit .294/.369/.451. He also had an average of 37 steals per year, including a league-leading 50 in 2007.
Coming off this stretch of good performance, Roberts signed a four-year, $40 million contract before the 2010 season. The contract would prove to be a disaster, mainly because Roberts couldn’t stay on the field. He had numerous injuries, including a self-induced concussion when he hit himself in the helmet after a strikeout.
After averaging over 150 games per year over the previous six years, Roberts averaged just 48 games per year over the next four. When he did get in the lineup, he didn’t do much at the plate, hitting .246/.310/.359. The Orioles released Roberts after the 2013 season. He signed with the Yankees, but hit just .237/.300/.360 in 91 games and was released in August.
In December of 2007, two years after Roberts’ breakout 2005 season, his name appeared in former Senator George J. Mitchell’s report on steroid use in major league baseball. Roberts admitted that he had used steroids “once” back in 2003, but had never used them again. He said, “In 2003, when I took one shot of steroids, I immediately realized that this was not what I stood for or anything that I wanted to continue doing. I never used steroids, human growth hormone or any other performance-enhancing drugs prior to or since that single incident.”
It’s hard to know what to believe about that era in baseball. Roberts went from being a light-hitting second baseman who had a career slugging percentage of .360 in his first 384 games to a double-digit homer guy with a .451 slugging percentage in his next 751 games. Whether or not he had more chemical assistance than he’s willing to admit to, we don’t really know. Roberts did have some very productive years for the Orioles and would be the starting second baseman and leadoff hitter for the all-time Orioles’ squad.