Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts has played on the same team as new closer Mike Gonzalez, but that was eight years ago in the Arizona Fall League. "We're going to come full circle after a long while," Roberts said earlier today during his weekly call-in segment on the Scott Garceau and Anita Marks Show on MASN and 105.7 The Fan. "I'm excited. I think any time you can add somebody like that to the back of the bullpen, that's a great addition for us. You're hoping that when you get to the seventh, eighth and ninth and you've got the lead, that you can hold it. And Garrett Atkins had three great years. He had a little bit of a down year this year, so hopefully he's motivated and comes back and has one of those huge bounce-back years for us."

Roberts said he's talked to Matt Holliday, one of his best friends, over the last few days. He's still campaigning for Holliday to sign with the Orioles. In an unrelated story, Roberts also was the campaign manager for George McGovern. "I'm trying on my side. I know that much," Roberts said. "I think he's open to a lot of different options right now. I don't think anything is imminent at this point with anybody that I know of. "The last couple years, we've talked about the possibility of being able to play together. And Garrett Atkins is one of his good buddies, also, so maybe that won't hurt either." Now it's up to Holliday to sit down with agent Scott Boras and float the idea of a friendship discount. And then he should duck. Roberts and Erik Bedard share the same agent, Mark Pieper, but the former teammates haven't spoken in a while. "I think Erik would be a tremendous addition to our team and our rotation," Roberts said. "When he's healthy, as we all know, he's as good as it gets. They're hard to come by when you talk about lefties who feature 94 with two or three other pitches to go with it. You're talking about a category that's very elite. I'd love to have Erik back. "I know he's probably got a lot of teams interested. I've heard some rumors about the injury and when he's going to be healthy and when he's going to be ready, but when he is ready and when he is healthy, I'd love to see him in black and orange." Roberts also said he believes the Orioles are going in the right direction, taking "baby steps," and should wait to spend big bucks on the market until they're a .500 team or better. (Holliday being the exception, I assume). "Hopefully, we get to that point where those big free agents really do consider us in the next year or two," he said. Shameless plug alert: Roberts estimated that he reads this blog twice a week. I texted him during the interview and playfully challenged him on it, but he does have his weekly segment on the network, so I guess he's being a team player. He also said that he thinks I'm funny. I know a few of you would like a minute for rebuttal.