By Jorge Arangure Jr.
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 7, 2007

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., March 6 -- During negotiations that will soon end, the Baltimore Orioles offered Brian Roberts the parameters of a contract that would keep the second baseman with the team beyond his first year of free agency.

Roberts was intrigued by such job security, but turned it down in favor of a two-year deal that will extend his contract through 2009, a pivotal season for the Orioles. Roberts's reasoning was simple: The Orioles could be a dramatically different team by then.

When the two-year extension is finalized -- which should be very soon -- 10 of the core members of the projected 25-man roster will become free agents after the 2009 season. The list includes pitchers Danys Baez, Erik Bedard, Chad Bradford, Jamie Walker, catcher Ramon Hernandez, outfielders Jay Gibbons and Aubrey Huff, and infielders Melvin Mora, Roberts and Miguel Tejada.

"It is kind of crazy," Roberts said. "I don't think I've seen a team that has that. I guess we have three years."

Had Roberts opted to commit past 2009, he might have been the only player from that list to return.

"I think anybody who signs with a team wants to know what the direction is and where they are headed, if you're going to win and all those sorts of things," Roberts said. "I feel like '09 is a good place to figure that out. We should know by then where we're headed. Hopefully we'll know way before that. I feel like we're going in the right direction. I feel we've put together a team that can win, but with the number of guys up after '09 who knows who will be here."

In some cases, contracts offered to several of the position players were meant to run concurrently with Tejada's. In other cases, the Orioles had to offer an extra year in order to secure a free agent. Such was the case with Hernandez and the three relievers (Baez, Bradford and Walker).

"All along we've talked about once we have success, to sustain it," Orioles Vice President Jim Duquette said. "The core group we had talked about was Brian, Tejada, Mora and Gibbons, that whole group of guys that have been here for a while and we tried to lock up for a while. I think it's more coincidence than anything else that they expire the same year. It really wasn't really anything we did by design to have them all signed through that year. It was just more what it was going to take. It's an interesting dynamic if you sit and think about it."

Duquette said the team expects to be spenders in the free agent market the next few seasons, but the Orioles will also try to rely on their improving farm system to replace players who don't return after '09.

"You always look a few years down the road and you look at your minor league system and you see who would be coming due from your projections," Orioles Executive Vice President Mike Flanagan said. "We think we have some talent in the minor leagues, which at that time should be arriving on the scene."

Third baseman-first baseman Billy Rowell, a first-round pick last year, could be ready to take Mora's place by 2010. Pitcher Brandon Erbe, a 2005 draft pick, could join the rotation then, as could 2006 draftee Pedro Beato. Barring trades, the team will still have Daniel Cabrera, Nick Markakis, Chris Ray and Hayden Penn.

Though having such a three-year window may seem daunting, it could also provide the Orioles with some financial flexibility the next few years in the free agent market. Players such as Atlanta Braves outfielder Andruw Jones, Minnesota Twins pitcher Johan Santana and Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki are all nearing free agency and the Orioles could offer heavily backloaded contracts.

"At that point in '09 I think we'll continue to push forward in improving and spending and having a consistent payroll year in and year out," Duquette said. "At some point, perhaps sometime in '08, we'd entertain talking about extending some of those guys and looking beyond that year."

Orioles Manager Sam Perlozzo, whose contract expires after 2008, said he's not worried about such a problem -- at least not yet.

"It's way far ahead for me," Perlozzo said. "So many things can happen in the meantime. We get down the road and you're asking me two years from now I'll be happy to be answering it."