The Orioles are claiming outfielder Luis Robert Jr. off waivers from the Mets, according to SNY's Chelsea Janes.
For Baltimore fans who haven't followed his career closely, Robert arrives with real pedigree attached. Born in Ciego de Ávila, Cuba, he made his name with the White Sox, finishing as the runner-up for AL Rookie of the Year in his 2020 debut before winning a Gold Glove in center field that same season. He broke out fully in 2023 with an All-Star selection, a Silver Slugger award, and a 12th-place finish in AL MVP voting, hitting .264 with 38 home runs and 80 RBI that year.
Over six seasons in Chicago, he combined power and speed in a way few players in the game could match, finishing with 102 home runs and 102 stolen bases — earning the nickname "La Pantera," the Panther, along the way. The catch has always been staying on the field — across those six years, he topped 100 games played just three times.
The Mets traded for him this past January, sending infielder Luisangel Acuña and a pitching prospect to Chicago after picking up Robert's $20 million club option. It hasn't gone the way New York hoped.
A lumbar spine injury cost him three months of the season, and he entered August as a trade-deadline afterthought, hitting so poorly in the weeks before the deadline that interest around the league never materialized. Since then, though, he's turned it around in a real way, batting well over .300 with an OPS approaching 1.000 over his last several weeks. His time in New York also found him spending real time in left field, something new for a player who spent almost his entire career as a center fielder — added versatility that only makes him more useful to whoever picks him up.
New York ultimately decided that resurgence still wasn't enough to justify his remaining salary or a $20 million option for 2027, and placed him on outright waivers over the weekend rather than risk paying for another season.
Baltimore now takes on what's left of that money — roughly $3 million for the rest of this year, plus a $2 million buyout tied to next season's option. In exchange, the Orioles get a player who's shown he can still impact a game when healthy: Robert is hitting 10 home runs on the season, still grades out among the fastest outfielders in the sport by Statcast's own tracking, and gives Baltimore a proven bat with real offensive upside as the club pushes for a wild-card spot down the stretch.
Because he was added before September 1, Robert is also eligible for Baltimore's postseason roster if the Orioles get there.
It's about as low-risk a move as a contending team can make this time of year. The money involved is modest by MLB standards, and Baltimore isn't giving up a prospect or a roster spot that costs much to fill — the upside is what makes it interesting.
The calendar backs that up. Over his last 79 plate appearances this month, Robert has hit .286 with a .557 slugging mark and an .841 OPS — production that would rank him 43 percent above league average by wRC+ if he sustained it. If even part of that carries forward, the Orioles just added a potential middle-of-the-order bat for the stretch run at a fraction of what that kind of production would normally cost.
The timing also lines up with a real need. Tyler O'Neill has been out since late August with a shoulder strain, and Robert gives Baltimore a capable body to help fill that outfield gap, whether as an everyday option or in a platoon depending on how he and the rest of the outfield mix perform down the stretch.