Brian Roberts, 2010 Topps Chrome #166

Over the weekend, another long offseason began for Brian Roberts. The Orioles' 34-year-old second baseman elected to have surgery to repair a labral tear in his right hip and will miss the rest of the 2012 campaign. His disappointing totals for the year include 17 games with a slash line of .182/233/.182. Pulling up his stats for the past three injury-shortened seasons, you get an even more discouraging picture:

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB
2010	32	BAL	AL	59	261	230	28	64	14	0	4	15	12	2	26	40	.278	.354	.391	.745	105	90
2011	33	BAL	AL	39	178	163	18	36	7	1	3	19	6	1	12	21	.221	.273	.331	.604	65	54
2012	34	BAL	AL	17	74	66	2	12	0	0	0	5	1	1	5	12	.182	.233	.182	.415	16	12

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/30/2012.

Brian's body has been breaking down on him ever since he signed a four-year contract extension in 2009. He's been waylaid by problems with his back, abdominal muscles, post-concussion symptoms, and now his hip. My heart goes out to one of the best players to suit up for the O's in the 2000s, and I'll continue to hope against all logic that he is able to play 150 (or even 140) games in 2013. Hell, I might even settle for 100.