The Orioles announced that outfielder Will Robertson has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A Norfolk. He was designated for assignment December 28th when the O’s signed Zach Eflin. DFA limbo is normally capped at a week but the rules are looser around the holidays, which led to Robertson hanging out there for almost two weeks.
Robertson, 28, has never played for the Orioles. He was claimed off waivers from the Pirates in December. The Orioles love to claim players and them put them back on waivers later, hoping to keep the player in a non-roster capacity. The upside of this scenario was recently demonstrated by Ryan O’Hearn. The O’s acquired him from the Royals in January of 2023. He was designated for assignment two days later and then passed through waivers. He earned his way back onto the roster and spent over two years as a key contributor for Baltimore.
Since this is Robertson’s first career outright and he has less than three years of big league service time, he doesn’t have the right to elect free agency. He’ll stay with the O’s and try to earn his way back onto the roster.
He was drafted by the Blue Jays in 2019 and didn’t have a lot of prospect hype as he climbed the minor league ladder. He showed flashes of a breakout in 2025, however, which got him up to the majors with the Jays. He eventually lost his roster spot and went to the White Sox in July. In the offseason, he went to the Pirates and then the Orioles.
During his brief major league action, he put up a dismal .129/.173/.143 line, but in a tiny sample of 75 plate appearances. His 354 Triple-A plate appearances were much more impressive. His 24.9% strikeout rate was above average but an improvement for him personally, as he was at 31.3% the year previously. His 13.6% walk rate at Triple-A last year was quite strong and he also hit 20 home runs in those 354 trips to the plate. That led to a .289/.387/.571 line and 148 wRC+ at that level.
Since Robertson cleared waivers, it seems major league clubs were a bit skeptical of that production. His .342 batting average on balls in play was a bit on the high side. He was a 27-year-old repeating the Triple-A level, with serious strikeout concerns in previous seasons. He’s also mostly a corner outfield guy, with very limited center field experience.
If his 2025 was a legitimate late-bloomer breakout, the O’s could benefit down the line if he earns his way back onto the roster. He doesn’t have an easy path, as Baltimore’s current outfield mix consists of Colton Cowser, Taylor Ward, Dylan Beavers, Tyler O’Neill, Jeremiah Jackson, Leody Taveras, Reed Trimble, Heston Kjerstad and Marco Luciano, though Luciano and others could eventually follow Robertson to the waiver wire.
Photo courtesy of Rick Osentoski, Imagn Images