Guardians have great opportunity to add literal insult to injury to Orioles after Luis Robert news 

Last week, the Orioles pulled off a desperation move to end all desperation moves by claiming Luis Robert Jr. and his bloated contract off waivers from the Mets.

At the time of the claim, the Orioles were just one game behind the Guardians in the Wild Card standings and were in the midst of a series against the lowly Rockies. It seemed like the shot in the arm the Orioles’ roster needed.

Turns out that move resulted in the exact opposite outcome.

On Sunday, the Orioles placed Robert on the 15-day injured list with left hamstring discomfort that’s likely going to end his season (and tenure with the Orioles) after just three games and 11 at-bats.

While that shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone in Cleveland given how quickly Robert’s tenure with the White Sox fizzled, the Guardians have a great chance to make that injury sting even more by virtue of their three-game series against the Orioles this week. 

The Orioles aren't going to have Luis Robert Jr. for their series against the Guardians

The Orioles are entering today’s game four games behind the Guardians in the Wild Card standings with the Rangers and Blue Jays standing between them. The Orioles need to sweep the Guardians this week to stay in the postseason hunt, and their chances of doing so took a huge hit with the loss of Robert. 

Although he didn’t get a ton of time to make an impression in the Orioles’ lineup, both of his hits went for extra-bases. But that’s likely seemed like cold comfort given they came in the midst of Baltimore’s season-long six game losing streak. 

That kind of theme should be familiar to Guardians fans given how Robert’s tenure on the South Side of Chicago went. 

Robert always seemed to always kill the Guardians when he played against them (.799 OPS against Cleveland), but those opportunities always seemed to be few and far between due to injuries.

He’s only recorded one season where he’s played in more than 110 games, and has played in just 61 contests this season due to a lumbar spine disc herniation that cost him nearly three months. 

The Orioles knew this was a possible outcome with Robert, but they still claimed him and his remaining $5 million salary in the hopes he’d be the final piece of their puzzle.

Now they’re on the hook for that contract and are going to have to make a decision about what to do with him in the offseason, though all signs point toward them paying him a $2 million buyout over picking up his $20 million club option. 

Although the Orioles' acquisition of Robert didn’t come at the trade deadline, his disastrous time in Baltimore adds a bit more appreciation to Cleveland’s calculated trade deadline that netted them four current big league contributors who are on relatively cheap deals. 

Now Orioles fans are going to get a first look at that this week while simultaneously playing the ‘what if’ game with Robert. 

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