Brian Roberts & The Art of the Deal...

I was a bit shocked to see Brian Roberts' demands for a deal.

While I do think he is a fine player -- by the time he's done with the contract he wants, the second baseman will be in his decline phase. I was frankly surprised to even see that he and his agent were negotiating with the team and that dialogue was still open.

Does anyone think that he may be holding a gun to the team's head to get more money because he's the one the premier faces of the franchise and wants to be compensated for it? Again, I thought he would be traded --- however, does it show that winning isn't paramount for him like I thought?

I would think the Orioles would want to keep Brian on the team; however, wouldn't the prudent thing to do is trade him to a contender and get young talent to help the rebuilding process?

Baseball is a business, and now it seems like Brian Roberts and his agent is treating it as such.