I'm starting to get the idea that the Orioles really don't want Robert Andino around. Two years ago he was a surprise addition to the roster at the end of spring training, arriving via a trade that sent Hayden Penn to the Marlins. He spent all of 2009 as the O's utility infielder, and was...a pretty awful hitter: .222 AVG, .274 OBP, .288 SLG, 48 OPS+. It seems that last spring he turned off team officials with his lackadaisical approach to defense, so he began the season at Norfolk. Even though Brian Roberts was not healthy, the Birds decided that a decrepit Julio Lugo was preferable to Andino at second base. Instead, he got to play every day at AAA and didn't do anything special: .264/.302/.405, though he did flash enough power to hit 30 doubles and 13 homers. He committed 31 errors, which could mean that he got to a lot of balls, but it could also mean that he was sloppy. Anyway, he finally made it back to Baltimore in September and played better than expected, albeit in a small sample size: .295/.333/.459 in 16 games, with 4 doubles and 2 homers. Oh, and the home runs came in consecutive days against A.J. Burnett and CC Sabathia. He played second base, third base, and shortstop, and made only one error. However, after trading for shortstop J.J. Hardy, the O's re-signed Cesar Izturis to be the utility infielder. At best, Andino can hope to compete with Brendan Harris (also acquired in the Hardy trade) and possibly Nick Green (who was rumored to be signing a minor league deal last week) for another bench spot. But considering Izturis' negligible offensive value and the likeliness of a 12-man pitching staff, it's unlikely that the team will carry two light-hitting backup infielders. Sorry, Robert.
