The Mets have reinstated outfielder Luis Robert Jr. from the 60-day injured list, optioned infielder Eric Wagaman to Triple-A Syracuse, and outrighted fellow infielder Zack Short—who was designated for assignment a few days ago—to Syracuse.
Robert Jr. was one of several new acquisitions made by the Mets after the team decided to take a sharp turn from the majority of its former core at the start of the offseason. And like many of his teammates, he’s had an injury-marred and disappointing 2026 season thus
far. After getting off to a hot start, Robert Jr. hit the injured list in late April with a .224/.327/.329 line, a 90 wRC+, and 0.1 fWAR. It’ll be interesting to see how often the Mets play him between now and the trade deadline, as he’s been double-Wally Pipped by young outfielders Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing since he was sidelined.
In the short term, perhaps Ewing will start regularly at second base—especially since 2025-26 offseason acquisition Marcus Semien has been terrible this year—to allow Robert to showcase his health and skills in center field ahead of the deadline. Robert is earning $20 million this year and has a $20 million team option for the 2027 season with a $2 million buyout.
If the Mets aren’t able to trade him, though, it would behoove them to keep playing Ewing and Benge alongside Juan Soto in the outfield. And presumably they’d relegate Robert to a semi-regular role, either giving Soto some starts at DH or just having Robert serve as a DH himself.
As for Wagaman, he’s made 42 plate appearances for the Mets, and he’s hit just .162/.262/.324 with a 68 wRC+. Once Mark Vientos hit the injured list, Wagaman started getting regular starts as Jared Young’s platoon partner at first base. The Mets haven’t started anyone other than those three players at first base since early May. Maybe they’ll just let Young face lefties for the time being.
And last but not least, Short has hit just .140/.262/.180 in 62 major league plate appearances this year, the vast majority of which came with the Tigers.
