{"id":792136,"date":"2026-08-30T08:21:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T08:21:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/792136\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T08:21:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T08:21:16","slug":"the-5-million-question-surrounding-luis-robert-jr-s-mets-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/792136\/","title":{"rendered":"The $5 million question surrounding Luis Robert Jr.’s Mets future"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Mets\u2019 Luis Robert Jr. gamble could be coming to an unceremonious end \u2014 but only if someone is willing to pay for it.<\/p>\n

Robert was placed on waivers Saturday, The Post\u2019s Joel Sherman confirmed, giving him 48 hours to potentially land with a contender and still be eligible for their postseason roster. <\/p>\n

The outfielder pinch hit in the eighth inning of the Mets\u2019 6-2 win over the Astros<\/a> at Citi Field and can continue to play while on waivers. <\/p>\n

\"LuisLuis Robert Jr. watches his home run during the seventh inning of a recent
game against the Braves at Truist Park. Getty Images<\/p>\n

If a team decides to claim him, they\u2019d owe the approximate $3 million remaining on his contract for this season plus a $2 million buyout.<\/p>\n

If other MLB teams decide that Robert, 29, isn\u2019t worth the approximately $5 million, a likely outcome based on his struggles, he\u2019d end up back with the Mets. <\/p>\n

They acquired Robert from the White Sox<\/a> in January, hoping the deal would bring a missing piece for a contending season, but Robert missed time due to an injury in addition to underwhelming at the plate. The Mets spiraled toward a lost year. And then they unsuccessfully tried to trade Robert ahead of the deadline.<\/p>\n

Through most of the early-season free fall, Robert was out of the lineup with a lumbar spine herniation. At the time of his injury, which ultimately sidelined him until July 20, he was hitting just .224 with a .656 OPS. <\/p>\n

Once he returned, his batting average dipped to as low as .189 \u2014 and his OPS as low as .597 \u2014 after the Mets\u2019 Aug. 5 game. <\/p>\n

And while he\u2019d hit .311 with a .994 OPS across 19 games since then, entering play Saturday, Robert has still collected just 10 homers and 23 RBIs even after his recent uptick in production.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

His path to playing time<\/a> also became complicated. The Mets have received strong contributions from rookie outfielders Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing, who both factor into their long-term future more than Robert. <\/p>\n

Juan Soto returned from a left calf strain Saturday<\/a>, too, and while the Mets will ease him back into the lineup as designated hitter initially, he\u2019ll factor into the defensive equation in 2027 and beyond. <\/p>\n

Robert could be owed $20 million next season via a club option, but the Mets \u2014 or any team he\u2019s claimed by \u2014 would likely pay the $2 million buyout instead.<\/p>\n

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Their decision to waive Robert could help solve that outfield logjam. <\/p>\n

It would also save the Mets money. But if not, if the two days pass without him getting claimed, it becomes just another footnote in a disappointing year, another sign of the Mets admitting an offseason mistake.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Mets\u2019 Luis Robert Jr. gamble could be coming to an unceremonious end \u2014 but only if someone…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":792137,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2396],"tags":[5,999,101,4,1690,61,2548,4203,185],"class_list":["post-792136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-mets","tag-baseball","tag-luis-robert-jr","tag-mets","tag-mlb","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-mets","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkmets","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/117183492069287869","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=792136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/792137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=792136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=792136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=792136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}