Hour 2: Orioles Claim Luis Robert Jr. & The Great Stan Lee Debate

**Craig Carton** (0:00)
Oh, I know this song. I didn't know until this kick didn't.
Alright, The Afternoon Fanline, sponsored by Verizon Business, helps small business make it big. A little bit of Met News as Lou Bob, your guy, Lou Bob, Luis Robert Jr. has been claimed. The story broke over the weekend that they put him on waivers. He has been claimed by the Baltimore Orioles.

**Chris McMonigle** (0:28)
Yeah, I'm at the game Saturday. He fly, pinch hits, flies out. And again, it obviously happened the day before, but the timing could not have been more perfect. Like literally, he gets back into the dugout and we get notifications like, everyone, Luis Robert, put on waivers.

**Craig Carton** (0:44)
And it seems like waivers have been more popular this year than previous years. I don't remember this many waiver claims at the end of years like this. They used to be the...

**Pete Hoffman** (0:52)
They used to be the original trade deadline.

**Craig Carton** (0:54)
It was like it was a trade deadline and it was like the waiver trade deadline. And I remember the most... Evan gave an example that I didn't remember.
The one I remember is Verlander. I'm pretty sure Verlander was a waiver claim trade from Detroit to Houston. I think he got through the trade deadline and it was a waivers trade.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:14)
Not quite Luis Aiella for the Mets.

**Craig Carton** (1:16)
No, not quite Luis Aiella.
But are you going to miss, Lou Bob? All what could have been.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:22)
No, I'm very disappointed it didn't work out because I was really convinced that was like the star acquisition of the offseason.

**Craig Carton** (1:29)
There's no doubt about it with the Mets, right? And so much has gone wrong.
He's one of the examples of just, there was like five or six things and really, to really shape the season in a major way, two or three things. And one of them was, was he going to be the 2023 Luis Robert Jr, who was phenomenal and hit 30 plus home runs and played a gold glove caliber center field? Or was he going to be the off injured, somewhat disappointing player he'd been in the last two years? And unfortunately, we know which one came to fruition.

**Pete Hoffman** (2:01)
It's the one that he was consistently. It was the one that was injured and not very good. Yes. And by the way, I'm happy because now we don't have to pay his option to not be here next year.

**Craig Carton** (2:12)
That's the thing with the waivers. So the Orioles are picking up whatever the remainder of his contract is this year, which should probably be somewhere. It's like two and a half, three million. And then next year there is a buyout, a club option for 20, which I don't think the Orioles would even pick up. Certainly the Mets wouldn't. And the buyout is two million. So that's on the Orioles as well. The Mets are free and clear of the $5 million that it would have cost to keep Lou Bob the rest of the year.

**Pete Hoffman** (2:39)
I gotta be honest, I was very concerned that David Stearns was considering bringing him back next year.

**Craig Carton** (2:43)
Were you really?

**Pete Hoffman** (2:46)
I was, yes.

**Craig Carton** (2:47)
You thought he was just gonna bring him back?

**Pete Hoffman** (2:48)
Yeah.

**Craig Carton** (2:50)
It's 20 million and that shouldn't stop your owner from spending money.

**Chris McMonigle** (2:54)
No, but they were...

**Craig Carton** (2:55)
And there's not a lot of free agents next year.

**Pete Hoffman** (2:57)
The talk was maybe you buy him out of his option and sign him for cheaper, so you bring him back for a little bit less money, but he's still... I just don't want him here anymore.

**Chris McMonigle** (3:06)
I just want him gone.

**Pete Hoffman** (3:07)
Yeah, he's not good. Does anybody see that? Is that just me?

**Craig Carton** (3:10)
No, I mean he's had a miserable year, but most of it's been injuries. He has shown some power since coming back from the injury. Power!

**Pete Hoffman** (3:16)
Yes, he hit 10 home runs, he's still batting what, 200?

**Craig Carton** (3:19)
I'm with you. I'm not saying he's good. I'm saying he's shown some power. He's even been disappointing in center field the brief time he was playing there at the beginning of the year. Yes, we have the center field.

**Pete Hoffman** (3:26)
We got AJ. Ewing. We're good.

**Craig Carton** (3:27)
You do have an outfield locked up.

**Chris McMonigle** (3:29)
Well, even Saturday, he lollygagged it too. I know the game doesn't matter, but we were sitting there like, this is not a good showing for a guy who just got put on waivers.