The Orioles have claimed outfielder Will Robertson off waivers from the Pirates, according to Jake Rill of MLB.com. The O’s have also claimed catcher Drew Romo off waivers from the Rockies, according to an announcement from Colorado. There wasn’t any previous indication these players were on the wire but it appears their respective clubs tried to sneak them through waivers in order to open 40-man spots. Baltimore’s 40-man had a vacancy but they will need to open one spot to make these two claims.
Robertson, 28 this month, is a popular bet for a late-bloomer breakout. This is the fourth roster he’s been on in the past six months. A fourth-round pick of the Blue Jays back 2019, he wasn’t really on the prospect radar as he climbed the minor league ladder. He would show some occasional pop but also struck out about 30% of the time, which limited his overall offensive production. He has occasionally played in center field but has mostly been a corner-only guy, meaning he needs to hit to provide value.
He seemed to find another gear in 2025. He put up good numbers in Triple-A to start the year, enough that the Jays called him up to the big leagues in June. He was designated for assignment in July and went to the White Sox in a cash deal. Between the Jays and the Sox, he hit just .129/.173/.143 in the majors, but in a tiny sample of just 75 plate appearances.
In his 354 Triple-A plate appearances between the two clubs, he lowered his strikeout rate to 24.9%, still a high number but a nice drop for him personally. He also drew walks at a strong 13.6% clip and hit 20 home runs. All told, he had a .289/.387/.571 line at Triple-A this year. That production translates to a 148 wRC+, indicating he was 48% above league average at that level.
Despite that strong production, his age and lack of prospect pedigree make him a fringe roster player. The White Sox put Robertson on waivers in October. The Pirates claimed him and held him for a couple of months before trying to pass him through waivers themselves. The Orioles have swooped in to grab him.
His path to playing time in Baltimore isn’t great right now. The Orioles have an outfield mix that consists of Taylor Ward, Tyler O’Neill, Colton Cowser, Dylan Beavers, Jeremiah Jackson, Leody Taveras, Heston Kjerstad, Reed Trimble and others. Robertson still has options, so he can be stashed in Triple-A as depth, but the Orioles often claim players off waivers and then later try to pass them through themselves. If they were to try that with Robertson at a later date and succeed, they could keep him in the system in a non-roster capacity.
Romo, 24, was once a prospect of some note. The Rockies took him 35th overall in 2020. As a switch-hitting catcher who was considered a strong defender, he got a lot of attention from prospect evaluators. Baseball America ranked him #80 in the league back in 2023.
His stock has dropped in the past couple of years, however. He appeared to become prone to chase in 2024. He only walked in 4.3% of his plate appearances in Triple-A that year. His .297/.339/.499 line and 97 wRC+ that year weren’t disastrous but his results were propped up by a .331 batting average on balls in play. Going into 2025, BA ranked him as just the 17th-best prospect in the entire Rockies’ system.
Here in 2025, his results were even worse. He slashed .264/.329/.409 for a 75 wRC+ in Triple-A, despite being aided by a .338 BABIP. He’s also received brief major league looks over the past two seasons but has a dismal .167/.196/.222 line in 56 plate appearances.
The trends aren’t great, which is surely why the Rockies tried to pass him through waivers today. For the O’s, they’re grabbing a guy who is still fairly young and was a Top 100 prospect a couple of years ago. Even if his offense doesn’t improve, he’s a glove-first catcher with options and can therefore be kept in Triple-A as depth. The O’s project to have Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo splitting the catching duties, with Romo and Maverick Handley also on the 40-man.
Photo courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski, Imagn Images