Ryan Roberts

No player benefited more from the failure of Melvin Mora in 2011 than Roberts. After entering spring training without minor league options and facing the possibility of another year at Triple-A and potentially with a new organization, Roberts carried a 1.007 OPS in April and never looked back. Although his plate discipline wavered at times and he was prone to streaky production at the plate, the end result was flirtation with a 20-20 season over 482 at-bats. Roberts has pounded lefties in his career, so there is long-term potential of a platoon role considering his .701 career OPS against right-handed pitching. With Aaron Hill signed through 2013, the D-Backs are going to give Roberts another run as their everyday option at third.

Roberts struggled in spring training and never seemed to right the ship while spending most of his time at Triple-A Reno last season. He's shown an interesting skill set for a bench player at times, but opportunities to play dried up for Roberts with the arrival of Kelly Johnson to handle second base last season. At age 30, he'll have to earn a roster spot during spring training and then wait for injuries to open up at-bats.

Following the decision to let Orlando Hudson depart as a free agent after the 2008 season, second base turned into a sinkhole in Arizona last season. Roberts emerged as one of the better options there, finishing with a .279/.367/.416 line in 305 at-bats. Defensively, he was above average with the glove, which bodes well for his chances of sticking around in a utility role if he's unable to earn the starting job at second base in a competition with Tony Abreu during spring training. In the worst-case scenario, Roberts looks like a solid bench option with an ability to handle lefties (.325/.406/.547) as part of a platoon at second base.

If his story ends here, it will have been a success. Roberts has exactly one hit in the majors and it cleared the fences. His .273/.330/.439 line at Triple-A Syracuse included a nasty 86 strikeouts in 362 at-bats, however, and his power has dipped as he has advanced up the chain. He played shortstop and third base during his college days, but he's not been mentioned as a possible utility player with the Blue Jays.

Roberts has shown good power for a second baseman, slugging .506 at High-A Dunedin, followed by .479 for Double-A New Hampshire. He'll be 25 in 2006, so he'll need to hit the ground running at Triple-A Syracuse this year. He has experience at both shortstop and third base from his college days and could project as a decent utility bat down the road.