ESPN.com's Buster Olney, who popped the rumor a week or so ago that Brian Roberts was suffering from kidney stones, is putting a gloom-and-doom spin on BRob's revelation that he is working through a slightly herniated disk in his lower back.
Buster's take: "Turns out Brian Roberts has a herniated disk in his back, writes Jeff Zrebiec, after an initial diagnosis of a kidney stone. Everybody is saying all the right things now, and it could be that he'll be OK. But keep in mind that he just starting a four-year, $40 million deal, and the fact that he is having back problem now, at age 32, is not exactly ideal, given the demands of his sport. Don Mattingly was one of the most dominant players in the majors at age 28, and then he started having back trouble and was a shell of himself the last six years of his career. Medicine has progressed a whole lot since then, and the O's must hope for the best."
My take: Can't entirely disagree, though I saw Doug DeCinces play many very good years while dealing with a far more serious back injury that left him in horrible pain at many junctures in his career. If Roberts is describing his injury accurately, he probably can rehab it to the point where it won't be a chronic problem, but is there room for real concern? Absolutely.