Roberts was traded to the Kansas City Athletics with pitcher Jack McMahan for Spook Jacobs and $5,000 cash. He never played a game with the Athletics, who soon sent him to the Columbus Jets of the International League in late June 1956. Neither Jacobs nor McMahan lasted beyond the 1956 season in the Majors. After being traded to the Athletics, Pittsburgh's main black newspaper, the Pittsburgh Courier, protested that Roberts never had a real chance in the Majors. However, Pirates general manager Joe L. Brown replied that Roberts was a "fine young man, but a marginal Major Leaguer," whose weak hitting was compounded by a lack of versatility: "He was really a one-position player. He didn't have the arm to play shortstop."
On August 27, as Columbus hosted the Havana Sugar Kings, Roberts became only the fifth player in International League history to hit four home runs in a game (and the first since Newark's Bob Seeds in 1938). It was also the first 4-home-run game in franchise history, as well as the first time a player on any team had performed the feat in Columbus. Roberts had struck only four home runs in 69 previous games with the Jets. Prior to the 1957 season, Roberts was traded to the New York Yankees as the player to be named later in a trade that sent former American League Most Valuable Player Bobby Shantz to the Yankees. In 1957 Roberts played with the New York Yankees minor league affiliate in Denver. At the end of the season, Roberts received several votes in the final tally for Most Valuable Player of the American Association, finishing behind Carl Willey of the Wichita Braves. Roberts never again reached the Majors, becoming a journeyman in the minor leagues and at one point played baseball in Nicaragua.
Roberts played with the Montreal Royals of the International League in 1959, where he led the league in fielding percentage with .987 and was named the Royals Most Valuable Player. He was also selected to the International League All-Star game that season. In 1960, Roberts was acquired by the Spokane Indians, a Dodger affiliate after he was made expandable by the Royals when they acquired Chico Carrasquel. He was selected to the Pacific Coast League All-Star squad in 1961. One week later Roberts suffered a broken leg after colliding with teammate Duke Carmel on the field during a game, practically ending his career. He played two more seasons in the minors, but his playing ability was diminished by the injury and Roberts retired from baseball after the 1963 season.
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