MacPhail Thinks O's May Need a New Second Baseman...But Who?

It's the Herniated Disc Felt 'Round the Harbor. Andy MacPhail now admits that he is concerned that 2B Brian Roberts may not be ready for Opening Day.

When asked if the team would seek outside relief to temporarily fill the hole at second base, MacPhail didn't rule out the option. 

"We will see what's out there," he said. "Obviously, we have weekly calls with our pro scouts, and we have to let them know what's going on in our camp. We might have to shift their focus a little bit from what the initial menu was. And then, obviously, we are going to have to start exploring more internal options as well." 

Well, checking the list of available free agent second baseman over at MLBTradeRumors.com reveals this:

Second basemen
None available

Unless you count Ryan Freel, there is literally no one out there.

So then you have to figure that Baltimore would have to trade for someone which would seem pretty unlikely...unless they think Roberts' injuries mat threaten his season.

So the realistic internal options come down to these guys: Robert Andino, Justin Turner, Blake Davis and Miguel Abreu.

Abreu and Davis are not on the 40-man roster so that leaves Andino and Turner. My guess? Andino takes over second with Ty Wigginton getting the occasional start with Michael Aubrey taking the empty roster spot.

I'm not panicking yet but as I've shown before, second basemen of Roberts skill set do not age well.