The Orioles officially have stopped denying their concern about the Brian Roberts situation. Andy MacPhail said today that he already had instructed his major league scouts to begin scouring for alternatives in case Roberts is not ready to play on Opening Day.
"We're already started the process of lining up whatever options we need, depending on how long we think he's going to be out,'' MacPhail said. "Every day that goes by you have to be less confident because that's one less day to get at-bats and repetitions."
Dave Trembley has been saying all along that he feels Roberts will be ready on Opening Day, but even he seemed less convinced today.
"It's on my mind,'' he said.