The Mets announced that outfielder Luis Robert Jr. has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. The 40-man roster had a vacancy but is now full with this move. Infielder/outfielder Eric Wagaman has been optioned to Triple-A Syracuse to open an active roster spot. Will Sammon of The Athletic reported on Robert’s activation prior to the official announcement. The Mets also announced that infielder Zack Short, who was designated for assignment last week, has been outrighted to Triple-A Syracuse.
Robert was acquired in an offseason trade that hasn’t worked out. The Mets sent infielder/outfielder Luisangel Acuña and minor league pitcher Truman Pauley to the White Sox to get Robert. The Mets were surely hoping for Robert to stay healthy while he produced at a strong level but that has not happened. He hit .224/.327/.329 in 98 plate appearances before lumbar spine disc herniation put him on the IL at the end of April.
Now that he is returning, the Mets will have different hopes than they did a few months ago. At this point, they are just hoping to salvage some value in a trade before the August 3 deadline. The club is 42-58 and ten games out of a playoff spot. They have reportedly already started fielding offers for a sell-off. Robert’s contract has a $20MM club option for 2027, with a $2MM buyout, but that doesn’t look attractive since Robert has been injured and/or performing poorly for almost three whole years now.
At his best, Robert is a borderline MVP candidate. He showed that form in 2023. He stayed healthy enough to get into 145 games. He hit 38 home runs and stole 20 bases while running the ball down in center field. FanGraphs considered the whole season to be worth five wins above replacement. He finished 12th in American League MVP voting that year.
But that level of production from Robert has been rare. Due to frequent injuries, that’s his only season with more than 110 games played. Earlier in his career, he was usually putting up good numbers when healthy. But since that 2023 campaign, he hasn’t even been good when on the field. He has a .223/.292/.367 line in 954 plate appearances dating back to the start of the 2024 season.
The Mets will hope that Robert can show a glimpse of his best self between now and the deadline. For what it’s worth, he has hit .323/.400/.548 on his minor league rehab assignment, though in a small sample of 35 plate appearances. Even if he does stay hot against major league competition, teams will be skeptical due to his injury history and inconsistent track record. Still, good center fielders are hard to find, so the Mets should garner some interest. They would have to eat a notable portion of his remaining salary to facilitate a deal but should be willing to do so.
It will be interesting to watch the playing time in the near future. The outfield is fairly set with A.J. Ewing in the middle, flanked by Juan Soto and Carson Benge. Jorge Polanco has only been used as a designated hitter since he came off the IL earlier this month. Presumably, the Mets should want to have Robert out there while they are trying to drum up trade interest. That could mean some occasional off-days for those other guys, though the logjam will be alleviated if Robert is flipped elsewhere in the coming weeks.
As for Short, he has bounced around the league this year as a depth infielder. He is a .169/.270/.286 hitter in his career, so teams presumably value his glovework. The Mets have twice rostered him in a bench infield role this year. The first stint lasted a little over a week in June. He was designated for assignment and then sent outright to Triple-A Syracuse. He was added back to the roster this month but the second stint lasted less than a week.
Since Short has been previously outrighted in his career, he has the right to elect free agency. The Mets didn’t indicate today whether or not he would do so. For what it’s worth, he also had the right to elect free agency last month but decided to report to Syracuse. If he goes that route again, he can provide the club with some non-roster depth. If he hits the open market, he will likely be limited to minor league offers, based on the fact that all clubs just passed on the chance to scoop him off waivers.
Photo courtesy of Matt Marton, Imagn Images
Poor guy.
Who does he take playing time from? Doesn’t matter because he’ll be back on the IL when he goes to tie his shoes.
Hope he takes DH time from Polanco.
Polanco needs to be DFA’d lol
Dude has no legs left to play. Painful to watch.
Starting to think that while Roberts is healthy, he will get centerfield reps for two weeks/til traded to market him while Ewing shifts to second base. Semien would ride the bench.
Roberts in my opinion is not worth moving Ewing to second base!
Why screw with him and give him something else to think about?
Leave the kid alone and let him be comfortable the rest of the way out.
Semien is another bad trade with a ton of money owed down the road.
Why is it taking so long for Stearns to deal?
I have no hope he will get anything good back; some little league pitcher that already has 2 Tommy Johns.
Cohen needs to step in at the end of this year and dump Stearns.
3 years out of a 5-year deal is enough of a business chance when you have the highest payroll arguably in both leagues and a few games out of the worst record. Thank you, Artie Marino,
Giving Stearns any credit for 24 when he inherited that whole team and then got rid of all of them is ridiculous for Cohen to state.
Angry Mets fans in top form today. “Little league pitcher with 2 Tommy Johns!” Lol
Ewing has played second quite enough to justify it as a position of knowledge. Not a position learnt on the fly.
I want everyone gone. That includes Stearns. He botched last year, botched not firing Mendoza, botched putting in a lame duck manager, botched roster construction, etc.
No, Ewing has not played 2B enough. 53 games total, 41 of those in single-A or below. He had a poor .941 fielding percentage at those low levels, where the ball isn’t hit nearly as hard/fast. That would already be one of the worst in MLB, and how much worse will it get at the faster pace?
Andy Green told SNY a couple of weeks ago that they see Ewing as an outfielder and not a 2B. He was used at 2B only because they were shorthanded in the IF. More recently, he said that Ewing and Benge will each get a day or more off per week as this is their first year in the majors and they’re not used to the longer season and more strenuous schedule. They will mix and match in the OF till Robert and Taylor are traded, with Soto getting some time at DH.
I don’t have an issue with Benge, Ewing, and Soto getting a few days off the next two weeks to get Robert and Taylor some playing time and increase trade value. When both Robert and Taylor are gone those three will be playing OF everyday for the rest of the Season. Not a huge deal.
I have this gut feeling the offense will finally start producing while the pitching staff gets gutted. The offensive players lack a market due to injuries and salary so we may end up with the lineup we expected on Opening Day from here on out. It’s too little too late but would be classic Mets irony.
Yeah finding a trade partner for him might be difficult.
Almost like the Mets were the goose with the golden egg the Sox were lucky enough to find.
Still only 28 and with monster seasons in the past. I think someone for sure would take a chance on him.
If so it will be interesting to see what they get.
As long as Mets eat most of the contract, including next years buyout.
I think the Mets have the money. Haha
Even if they did all of that what do you think they could get back?
A 15-30 prospect in buyer’s farm system, I would assume
That would assume that Robert’s has improved play in the 2 weeks
That’s not even worth it imo
Almost like the Mets were the goose with the golden egg the Sox were lucky enough to find.
So the Mets were the egg or the goose? Was Robert the egg?
Which cane first the goose or the egg? And was Maverick to blame?
It’s a real shame. Dude had the potential to be a beast of a player.
He certainly showed it, but unfortunately he’s prone to injuries so he hasn’t been able to stay consistent on the field.
Wouldn’t mind if he came back to the South side in a salary dump- bench off the bat who can still play in the field. Imagine a Robert, Peters, Montgomery OF tracking balls. And he was well liked by the kids so clubhouse fit would be a match.
I wouldn’t mind Luis Robert coming back to the White Sox. He might be more amped up with a team that’s in the playoff picture again.
Put him in the 7 hole without the expectations of having to be the guy. A trade for Clay and Robert in a salary dump. Hmmm.
I say get it done Getz! White Sox can make a push for the playoffs this year and these two would be good pieces to add.
Post season split for Robert Jr. Lou: .393/.452/.500. Just sayin’
Maybe the Angels will trade for him. They are just gearing up to make their run now right?
Send him to the ‘Stros for a case of Lone Star lol
Or send him to the Lone Stars for a case of Stroh’s
He should have a week or two before he pulls up lame jogging to 1st.
He learned well from his mentors on the White Sox Moncada and Jimenez.
The ChiSox tried to trade this “borderline MVP candidate” for 2 years cos he couldn’t stay healthy. Meanwhile, Acuna is hitting .242 with 15 stolen bases as a utilityman on the South Side.
ChiSox won that trade.
Acuña has a -.03 WAR and .559 OPS. Both teams lost.
I mean…. The Sox aren’t paying anything on that 20 million dollar salary, nor they buyout. If the trade doesn’t happen they never have a spot for Peters who is an all-star. I wouldn’t necessarily say both teams lost…
They asked too much for him for years
Robert is a far better player than Acuna. He was playing pretty well back in April. Acuna will be out of the league before you know it.
He’s not a better player because he’s never in the field. The guy has played 110+ games twice in his career. He’s horrible because he can almost never help his team out because of injury.
lmao Chucky, this is beneath even you. Why don’t you show the rest of Acuña’s slash line? .277 OBP, .282 SLG, .559 OPS. Robert has been terrible and injured but his OPS is 100 points higher.
Still don’t understand why the White Sox exercised their option on Roberts last offseason. They could have just walked away and everyone except Roberts would have been better off.
Arnaments
They were hoping he’d up his value with a few months of healthy baseball
Except they didn’t have Roberts so didnt need to decide on an option on Roberts
Acuna is also their best defensive SS. At least until Billy the Kid Carlson merits a call up down the road. Useful piece and a speedster off the bench in a late game situation.
Pray to the baseball Gods he, Manaea and the like have a solid next 2 weeks. What a crummy situation.
Here we go with the negative comments. Robert’s needs to play so they can showcase him to other organizations who are looking for a bat. It won’t impact Ewing he’ll play it will move Soto to DH some days . If Robert can show some offensive production and show he can play the outfield then he’ll get traded by August 3
I guess it logically makes the most sense to play Robert every day in CF for the next two weeks to showcase him for a trade… but, ugh, I don’t want the Mets to bench AJ Ewing, one of the few reasons to even watch the Mets right now, or play him out of position, so this stiff can play.
Starryl, why does it have to be one or the other? Why can’t the tea mix and match the OFs for two weeks, with Robert and Soto also getting some time at DH. Its only two weeks till the deadline. Plus, Benge and Ewing haven’t experienced the grind of an MLB summer. Giving them a few extra days off now might help keep them from gassing out. At least that is what Andy Green told SNY.
Yeah, I’ll grudgingly admit that giving Benge and Ewing a periodic day here and there does make sense. But from a selfish perspective, I’d rather watch either of them than Luis Robert. At least he’s gone at the end of the year, and with some luck, on August 3.
Just in time to trade him for a pack of stale sunflower seeds while eating a bit more than $6 million.
Back to the White Sox!
Oh, hell no! The guy is injury prone. That’s the only thing you need to know about him. There are lots of guys in AAA who can put up his current numbers for a lot less money AND they could possibly get better! LR, Jr. doesn’t offer that added option.
Tonight’s lineup – Ewing in RF, Robert batting 7th in CF … no Benge. Against the Miz.
I don’t think it’s really worth reading into aside from giving Benge a day off. He played 117 games last year, like 75 the previous year (college and minors), and around 60 two years ago in college. He’s already at 97 games. I don’t think it’s a big deal if he gets a few more days off over the next couple of weeks before the trade deadline.
We’ll see going forward, but I don’t think this will be a trend. They’ll all rotate in and out of the lineup, with Soto taking days at DH, maybe Ewing at 2B.
Luis Robert Jr. and a reliever to Seattle for Luis Castillo and a prospect?
Would need to be some prospect for the Mets to want to pay Castillo almost $25 million next year, especially if they’re giving up a good reliever.
Benge & Ewing belong in the OF every day. Get rid of everyone on the team except for those two, Soto, McLean, Thornton. PLEASE get rid of Peralta, Manaea, Senga, Baty first.