Orioles To Claim Luis Robert Jr.

Robert joins the O’s for the tail end of another injury-marred campaign. He’s being paid $20MM this season and has about $2.99MM of that sum yet to be paid out. Baltimore will take on the entirety of that amount, sparing the Mets that salary and the associated 110% luxury tax they were paying on it. The Mets save about $6.29MM on the transaction, and that’s before factoring in the $2MM buyout on next year’s $20MM club option (which the O’s will also cover now).

It’s a pricey sum for the Orioles to pay to acquire Robert, an uber-talented but frequently injured former All-Star who’s shown five-tool abilities at his best. Robert hasn’t been at his best for some time, however. He’s hitting .233/.303/.399 on the season — about 4% worse than league average, by measure of wRC+. Robert has popped 10 homers in 218 plate appearances and played a solid center field, but his once potent baserunning has evaporated. He has only two steals this year and has been caught three times. Statcast still pegs Robert in the 89th percentile of major leaguers for sprint speed — right in line with prior seasons — but he’s just not running much this year, perhaps in an effort to remain on the field more frequently.

To Robert’s credit, he’s been a bit better since returning from a monthslong stay on the IL (prompted by a herniated disc in his spine). He’s hitting only .222 with a .283 on-base percentage in 120 post-IL plate appearances, but he’s popped eight of his 10 homers this season in that time (producing a .454 slugging percentage).

Baltimore’s outfield isn’t technically all left-handed at the moment due to the fact that Leody Taveras is a switch-hitter, but Taveras has been awful as a right-handed hitter and solid as a lefty. Taveras, Colton Cowser and Dylan Beavers comprise manager Craig Albernaz‘s primary outfield unit at the moment. Cowser and Beavers both swing left-handed and have bleak platoon splits. The O’s have been using rookie Christian Franklin as a righty-swinging complement, but Robert will bring a career .285/.359/.479  slash against southpaws to the Baltimore lineup.

In addition to an upgrade over the season’s final month — at a time when they’re just one game back of the final AL Wild Card spot — the Orioles will gain access to that $20MM club option. It’ll be an $18MM net decision, which feels steep, but if Robert hits well down the stretch, the O’s might consider it a worthwhile gamble for a high-upside player ahead of a thin free agent crop where Trent Grisham and Daulton Varsho are the primary options in center field.

For the Mets, they’ll not only trim a sum of more than $8MM off the books (between the remaining salary, luxury tax and option buyout), they’ll also open more playing time for young outfielders who could be a part of the future. Will Sammon of The Athletic reports that New York will recall fleet-footed Nick Morabito from Triple-A Syracuse in place of Robert.

Morabito made his big league debut earlier this summer but didn’t get a long look. He went hitless in 12 plate appearances before being optioned back down. Morabito is hitting .254/.355/.388 with 13 homers and 42 steals in 507 Triple-A plate appearances this season — including a .283/.350/.434 hot streak over his past 14 games. The 23-year-old isn’t considered as strong a prospect as outfield-mates Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing were at the time of their arrival in the big leagues earlier this year, but he has a chance to carve out a role as a quality fourth outfielder or perhaps even a regular in left field if can make more contact and elevate the ball a bit more frequently.