I have heard a lot of fans are disappointed that the Baltimore Orioles traded away Robert Andino, but I say good riddens! Andino, other than a walk-off hit against Boston in 2011, has done nothing specatular with the bat, and is he ok in the field. I will give him credit in that he could play all four infield positions, but a lot of players out there can do that. Andino was arbitration eligible this year and would have gotten a raise and the Orioles were absolutely correct for getting rid of him before having to pay him more money to be terrible at the plate. Ryan Flaherty has much more upside, he hits from the left side of the plate and has much more power as well.

Most fans that are sad to see him go mention that they loved the attitude he brought to the team, and I have no problem with a guy that has some arrogance about him on a baseball field, you need that guy; however, that guy needs to be able to BACK IT UP!! What in the world has Andino done to back up his arrogance? Nothing!

So long Andino…….enjoy hitting .200 somewhere else!

The revolving roster door swung open again Tuesday as the Orioles officially recalled left-handed pitcher Zach Britton and purchased the contract of right-hander Brad Bergesen to add a fresh arm to a weary bullpen prior to the second of a four-game set with the Minnesota Twins.

Right-hander reliever Miguel Socolovich was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk and second baseman Robert Andino was placed on the 15-day disabled list after Monday’s MRI revealed the infielder would miss at least three weeks with a left shoulder injury. To clear room for Bergesen on the 40-man roster, designated hitter Nick Johnson (right wrist) was moved to the 60-day disabled list.

Britton’s 2012 debut came much later than anyone expected after the 24-year-old opened the season on the disabled list with a nerve impingement in his left shoulder. Upon being activated on June 6, the left-hander was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk where the Orioles wanted to see him continue to build arm strength as well as work on commanding his breaking pitches better.

In eight starts with the Tides, Britton was 4-1 with a 4.15 earned run average over 47 2/3 innings. In his final tuneup in Triple A on July 12, he pitched seven shutout innings while striking out six and allowing four hits in a 7-0 victory for the Tides.

The addition of Bergesen brings a fresh arm to a tired Baltimore bullpen that pitched 7 1/3 innings Monday in an embarrassing 19-7 loss to the Twins. He is 4-3 with one save and a 4.03 ERA in 80 1/3 innings over 22 games (10 starts) with Triple-A Norfolk this season.  He has pitched to a 2.89 ERA in 28 innings out of the bullpen this season, including a 2.35 clip in his last 10 appearances since June 9.

Socolovich made his major league debut on Saturday and allowed four earned runs in four innings of work for the Orioles.

With Jim Thome now holding down the designated hitter duties for the Orioles, Johnson’s future with the club remains in doubt, but he’s been on the disabled list since June 28 and has a history of chronic wrist issues.

Right-handed pitcher Tommy Hunter will make Wednesday’s start in Minnesota, meaning the Orioles will be making yet another roster move in the next 24 hours.

Given how poorly the Orioles have pitched in recent weeks, the barrage of moves feels like little more than rearranging the deck chairs on the sinking Titantic with so few appealing options at their disposal.

Second baseman Robert Andino said he hoped only to miss a few days with the left shoulder injury that forced him out of Sunday’s game.

Instead, the Orioles are losing another player for an extended period of time as Andino is expected to miss three or four weeks after undergoing an MRI on Monday. He will be placed on the 15-day disabled list, according to reports from Minnesota where the Orioles began a four-game series with the Twins.

Andino injured his left shoulder diving for a ground ball in the sixth inning of the Orioles’ 4-0 loss to Detroit.

Tuesday’s starter Zach Britton will take Andino’s spot on the 25-man roster as the club suffered another injury blow on the same day starting pitcher Jason Hammel underwent right knee surgery that will keep him sidelined for at least three or four weeks.

Andino is hitting .230 with five home runs and 21 runs batted in this season while serving as the primary second baseman. Though the 28-year-old lost his starting job when veteran Brian Roberts returned to action in mid-June, Andino had regained his position when Roberts was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a hip injury. Roberts is contemplating having season-ending surgery.

The extended absence for Andino means the Orioles will turn to the combination of utility infielder Steve Tolleson and Rule 5 selection Ryan Flaherty to handle starting duties at second base. Tolleson was in the starting lineup on Monday night.

Manager Buck Showalter told reporters in Minnesota that Andino will report to Sarasota in a few days to begin rehabilitation.

After announcing pitcher Jason Hammel would undergo right knee surgery, the Orioles added another to their ever-increasing MASH unit when second baseman Robert Andino left Sunday’s game with a left shoulder injury.

Andino injured himself diving for a grounder to his left in the sixth inning and will remain in Baltimore to undergo an MRI on Monday while the Orioles begin a four-game series in Minnesota. X-rays taken on Sunday were negative, and the Orioles will keep their fingers crossed that Andino’s injury is not serious.

“The trainers are telling me what [the doctors] said and what initially they think, but it’s just pure speculation until they get the pictures back,” manager Buck Showalter said. “I think we’ll be able to make a decision on it by Tuesday and where it could affect some roster things we have to do.”

The Orioles are already without second baseman Brian Roberts, who is on the 15-day disabled list and weighing having surgery on his injured hip that would likely end his season.

Andino remained optimistic following the 4-0 loss to the Tigers that he would only miss a short time and avoid the 15-day disabled list.

“For me, I don’t think I’ll go on the DL,” he said. “It should be like a few days, hopefully. For me to come out of the game, it’s got to be something. X-rays are negative. I have nothing torn, nothing separated. Just waiting for the MRI tomorrow and [I'll] just go from there.”

With the Orioles having already sent down relief pitcher Steve Johnson to make room for Monday’s starter Chris Tillman and needing to make subsequent moves for pitcher Zach Britton on Tuesday and another starter on Wednesday, it will be difficult keeping Andino on the roster if he has to miss more than a day or two of action.

Ryan Flaherty took Andino’s place at second base on Sunday, and utility player Steve Tolleson would also figure to receive time at at the position in Andino’s absence.

It’s been an up and down first half of the season for the Baltimore Orioles.  After a fast start, recently the team has been looking somewhat like the Orioles of past years.  In the last 20 games or so, quality pitching and timely hitting have been at a minimum.  The formula the Orioles used during their hot start has started to unravel after injuries and just simply poor play has plagued them.  Injuries to Nick Markakis, Endy Chavez, and Nolan Reimold have decimated the outfield, leaving Adam Jones the lone staple.

The Orioles are right on the line between irrelevance and contention.  There are problems that need to fixed and there are ways to do it.  At this point it’s a matter of trying.  Both with the players and the front office.

Since his new contract extension back on May 26th, Adam has completely dropped off in production.  Batting a mere .260 in June and July, it seems as though Adam has almost phoned it in at this point.  He doesn’t hustle down the line or after foul balls near as much and just isn’t having many quality at bats.  Adam needs to put his money where his twitter feed is and start hitting the ball and not just talk about it.

The trade for Jim Thome hasn’t worked out very well either.  He is batting a measly .238 since joining the team with zero homeruns; the main reason we traded for him.

The stellar starting pitching during the first part of the year has all but disappeared at this point, with three of the original five starters not even at the major league level anymore (Matusz, Arrieta, Hunter).  Clearly if the Orioles want to stay in contention they need to trade for an elite arm like Zach Grienke or trade for a couple of quality arms like Matt Garza and Ryan Dempster.  I personally would trade anyone except Bundy and Machado (especially after their Futures Game performances) for Grienke.  He is a great pitcher who I think the Orioles could easily sign to a longer deal.  He has said he likes the small market teams better because he isn’t much of a media guy.

Anyone who has stepped up to play third base has been simply downright awful defensively.  Buck Showalter has resorted to putting Robert Andino there but what you make up defensively with him, you give up on the offensive end.  There aren’t many, if any solutions out there for this problem at this point.  Padres Chase Headley has been a rumor but they clearly want too much in return for him.  This is probably just going to be a hole the O’s will have to deal with for the rest of the season.

Brian Roberts’s return was a great story, but that’s about all it really was.  His average is down to .182 and is still without an extra base hit.  Yes, that’s right, he doesn’t even have ONE.  This is clearly not the production that you need out of your lead-off hitter.

Nick Markakis should be returning to the lineup after the All Star Break which should bring some much needed stability to the lineup.  For what it’s worth, he hit two, two run homeruns during his Friday rehab start with AA Bowie.  If anything, it’s encouraging to say the least.  His return would allow Davis to move to left field which is more suited for his abilities in Camden Yards.

With all this said, the team is still five games above .500 at 45-40 and a manageable 6.5 games behind the Yankees for first place in the A.L. East.  While there are clear problems on this team, they can be fixed by simply caring about how well the team does.  If the front office wants to make something out of this year, then they will go for it and trade for some legitimate pieces. If not, the team will simply fall into irrelevance

BALTIMORE — Playing his first major league game in over a year when he took the field against Pittsburgh on June 12, second baseman Brian Roberts made it look like he had never left with a 3-for-4 night.

However, the 34-year-old has struggled to find his footing since his first five games when he went 7-for-22 with four runs batted in. Going back to the start of the New York Mets series on June 18, Roberts is just 4-for-34 (.118) with three walks and six strikeouts as the Orioles have scored only 14 runs over their last nine games.

Manager Buck Showalter was asked if he thinks the extended time away from baseball has factored heavily into Roberts’ early struggles.

“I hope so. He’s had 55, 60 at-bats in over a year,” Showalter said. “He’ll be a contributor here. He’s aware; he knows when it’s right and when it’s not. He’ll get there, and we’ll reap the benefits of it when he does. He’s already done some good things for us early on and he will again.”

Roberts is hitting just .196 in 61 plate appearances and has yet to collect an extra-base hit, which is concerning when remembering the second baseman regularly hit 40 or more doubles per season over the course of his career.

Many wondered what impact his well-documented concussion-related issues would have on his aggression in the running game, but his struggles at the plate have prevented observers from really drawing any conclusions in that facet of the game. Roberts has only tried to steal one base and was thrown out against the Mets on June 19.

His fielding has been solid, though not spectacular in a limited number of games at second base. Roberts has committed one error while showing proficiency in turning the double play.

“We’ve got to keep in mind that things like that just don’t happen overnight,” Showalter said. “I think Brian’s got a real respect for the level of play. It’s the best players in the world, and nobody cares about some of the challenges guys may have had physically. But he’ll make somebody play for it eventually.”

Of course, it’s difficult to nitpick Roberts’ performance when a number of regulars who haven’t missed a year of time have struggled mightily over the last two weeks. It would be far more interesting to observe what the tone would be regarding the veteran if former starter Robert Andino had been hitting better prior to Roberts’ return earlier this month.

Showalter still views Roberts as his best option in the leadoff spot, which is hardly surprising considering how much difficulty the Orioles have had finding anyone else to handle the role with any level of proficiency over the last two seasons he missed extended time. The Baltimore manager still views Roberts as one of the best in the game at the top of the order.

“You put him on any team and that’s where they’d want to hit him for the most part,” Showalter said. “We’re lucky to have him back. It’ll happen.”

Roberts was hitless in his last 15 at-bats entering Friday night’s game against the Cleveland Indians.