A most unsettling spring for Roberts

Brian Roberts is getting tired of the questions, tired of waiting. Is he getting traded or not? And what's taking so long?

As the Orioles begin what could be a painful rebuilding process – although it wasn't as if last year's 69-win season was exactly comfortable – it's likely they'll do it without Roberts. The 30-year-old second baseman is marketable and wanted – especially by the Chicago Cubs – and the Orioles need plenty more pieces before they can think about contending in the American League East.

"At some point in your career, your name is going to be thrown out there in trades, and it's going to create some uncertainty," Roberts told the Baltimore Sun. "But, no, I didn't expect this to go all the way through spring training. It's not something that I'd want to go through every year, that's for sure."

The Cubs have made overtures that include top prospects, but nothing that's appealed enough to the Orioles. It's a situation that could linger into the season, or at least until other suitors come calling for Roberts, who is signed through 2009.

Other storylines in Orioles camp:

• Jeremy Guthrie will start the season opener for the Orioles, which is a long ride from can't-miss first-round prospect in Cleveland, to being so ineffective he was waived, to a rebirth in Baltimore.
• George Sherrill had four saves in four years as a middle reliever in Seattle, but because Chris Ray and Danys Baez are both out for the season with arm injuries, the 30-year-old lefty will get the closer's role for the 2008 Orioles. He came over in the Erik Bedard trade.
• Nick Markakis, 24, is the cornerstone of the franchise, entering his third big-league season with a career .296 average and coming off a 2007 season in which he hit 23 homers and drove in 112 on a team that didn't score all that many runs. And there isn't much this talented outfielder can't do.

Photo: Kevin Millar congratulates Baltimore Orioles teammate Brian Roberts during a Feb. 28 spring training game. (Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images)

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