The Mets announced Thursday that they’ve signed righty reliever Cam Robinson to a minor league deal and invited him to big league camp this spring. The team also confirmed its previously reported signing of outfielder Trayce Thompson to a similar non-roster deal with a spring training invite.
The fit with Robinson and the Mets is a natural one, as he’s spent his entire career to date with the Brewers. Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns was running baseball ops in Milwaukee when Robinson was drafted in the 23rd round of the 2017 draft, and Robinson ranked as high as 24th among Brewers prospects earlier this season, per Baseball America.
Robinson soared through three minor league levels in 2022, finishing that season with a 2.49 ERA, 25 saves, a 31.6% strikeout rate and a less palatable 11.8% walk rate in 65 innings between High-A, Double-A and Triple-A. Things didn’t go nearly as well in 2023, when Robinson was tagged for a 5.33 earned run average in 50 2/3 frames between the Brewers’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates. Robinson’s strikeout rate plummeted to 23%, while his already problematic walk rate climbed to an even more troubling 15.4%.
Lackluster ’23 output notwithstanding, Robinson posted strong run-prevention and strikeout numbers from 2021-22. Baseball America’s scouting report on him notes that his heater typically sits 93-95mph range, topping out at 97 mph. He pairs that with a high-spin curveball and occasional slider. Command troubles have long been an issue for Robinson, but solid velocity, a plus curveball and a track record of missing bats make him a decent depth flier on a minor league contract.
We gotta stop linking to wrong players, guys. Happens in a lot of articles lately. You want this one: baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=rob…
Maybe in some crazy scheme to turn a profit, the Samsonite people made more than one!
I saw this and misread it as Robinson Cano’s rights bought by the Mets from the Saudi league.
just 2 letters off from Cam to Cano. lol
did someone say Robinson Cano? 🙂
Prepare for rage. The very worst of suburban NYM fandom will not accept these shrewd depth signing while (checks notes) the vast majority of FAs have yet to be signed.
This will be a good sign. He had a rough first half last year but turned it around in second half
Sigh…here we go. Dude…RAGE. Happy, 10center?
Nothing to do with that. I am a diehard of the blue and orange who now lives out west. All of these signings aren’t killing us, but you need to understand that Sterns thinks that a bunch of these guys will be contributing to the ball club when they might hit a highlight reel for one play or a bat. This is not what a fan wants to see on his club especially when most of your friends are Dodgers fans and what they are doing this offseason. Joey Wendall is a has been, never been. We need a real pitcher signing, and sorry Severino is not that either. Do I have faith in Severino? Not much, but I will try to be optimistic about it. After watching him all these years play for the Yankees I know what he is which is a china doll fragile pitcher who might bring you a few decent games, but will not eat the innings we need.
@Silent Bob23 At this point it’s looking like, if Yamamoto signs elsewhere, the Mets are aiming to get 100 starts from:
Megill
Lucchesi
Butto
Scott
Hamil
Vasil
Tidwell
Peterson
Where they’ll burn through the first three in the first half, then let health and effectiveness in AA and AAA decide whom of the last five will pick up the reins.
The pretense will be that any one of the above eight might be a meaningful contributor to the next good Mets team instead of a weak #4, a #5, a MIRP, or trade fodder.
At this point I’m starting to think that another crash and burn season might be the best thing for Mets fans, if it means Cohen becomes so despised he sells the team.
His level of ineptitude should have an expiration date.
At least Tommy hunter retired.
@10centBeerNight Wow high school psychology manipulation
attack someone and shame them into not responding.
Or Grammar school punch someone in the arm and say go ahead baby complain.
Thanks for the trip back dude!
The Mets could field a whole football team with their NRI roster this year.
Seems like a good arm to take a flier on, but his control issues may prevent him from ever being truly effective.
Stearns had 6 years in Milwaukee to straighten him out without a lot of success. So what exactly makes him think they will have better luck now? No issue taking a flier on him. Just can’t expect much out of him.
first of all Stearns wasn’t the pitching coach for those years so he’s not personally responsible for fixing pitchers. secondly he had a very good year in 2022 so he showed signs of success. considering some of the arms in the bullpen last year he’s already better than some of them. It’s Only Money if he doesn’t straighten out he doesn’t straighten out
Trayce Thompson AND Cam Robinson? Uncle Stevie is going NUTS!
My Fathers and Mets- NL Championship (2024).
Another AAAA reclamation signing by Stearns. Guy is on a roll. He said we don’t need a Moore, Hicks, Robertson, or a proven RP. I’m a magician and will make these hot garbage signings the next great RP. Even if these guys don’t make the Majors we’ve got some good AAA RP like Lavender, Gervase, etc. I truly hope these two, especially Lavender, are in the Mets pen instead of these reclamation signings.
@KennyF’nPowers you are 100% right
At least this guy is only 24 and still has his prime ahead of him.
Lavender, maybe. But Gervase is further away… he spent most of last year in single-A, and only had a month in AA at the end of the season.
Gervase isn’t in AAA yet. He’s in AA, and was only been there for a month at the end of the season. .
Yeah! Throw money at players because….. because they’re available! Who cares if the team isn’t cohesive? That never ruined a season before!
Oh wait……..
The Mets 2023 season. :\
@SeeUonTheUlnarSide yeah nobody needs guys like Shohei Ohtani, Yamamoto, Snell, Bellinger, Soto, Hader etc. The Mets are better off with Cam Robinson, Andre Scrubb, Joey Wendle and Cooper Hummel. You should be a GM, you know a lot about baseball
It’s going to be Citi Morgue this Season in Flushing with the worst team $ 300 MM can buy before the luxury tax. Oh my
Lol All these players acquired with negative WAR. Can’t make this stuff up!
I’d rather see Stearns take a flier on these guys than be stuck with the bullpen full of arsonists like last season.
These are the same types of pitchers Eppler brought in last season.
Bingo you hit the nail on the head. That’s why I’m upset. But at least Eppler added Raley, Ottavino, and Robertson to those AAAA RP. Stearns hasn’t even replaced Ottavino and Robertson yet. This Pen is worse than last year’s Pen.
@Silent Bob23 you hit the nail on the head. Same awful bullpen as last year with Diaz in the mix, last place finish here we come
@brooklyn62 what are you talking about? The bullpen is the same bs as last year just with Diaz healthy. We lost Otto Robertson who were are only viable relievers. Drew Smith belongs the Mexican League, and Brooks Raley should be put in for mop up duty. There are a plethora of great relievers out there. Josh Hader should be the Mets number 1 priority. They also trade for major league relievers like Hunter Harvey, Brandon Finnegan, Justin Lawrence, etc. You don’t need to be a genious to contruct a competent bullpen
Robrock my man, why so bitter this off-season? You’re sounding like LFGMets,lol!
Brooklyn62,
Mets have been missing out on the goodies and signing a ton of scrubs. It looks like Max was correct about Mets 2024 on the way out the door.
Mets have only signed 1 scrub; Andre Scrubb! We should all be rejoicing that Eppler is gone, and Vogelslug has a new job at Nathan’s!The sun is shining bright over Citifield in 24!
…I Crack myself up sometimes! LOL…
Max was correct, why would he lie? Or my favorite Met fan conspiracy that the team lied to Max to get him to agree to a trade. But who exactly have they missed out on? Lee seems to be the only real potential target of theirs signed.
@brooklyn62 the common Mets fan is finally seeing the truth. The writing has been on the wall since Cohen took over the team. People are finally starting to realize what iv been saying for 3+ years
Mets are finally highly active on minor league contracts. That’s never been the case for decades
Just the fact that they are *finally* aggressive with with minor league contracts is an extremely good sign
It’s nice to get top tier free agents but it’s minor league contracts and your choices for bullpen and depth that are the reason you win or not
When you say winning teams are built on Minor League contracts you lose credibility. It’s combining the right FA signings with building a farm system producing young talent regularly that creates a winning team. Finding a gem, and maybe two if you’re lucky, on Minor League contracts is the cherry on top of the huge sundae.
Depth is depth. Prospects are obviously important but the minor league contracts are huge. Many of them will be up on the major league roster. If you have good replacements for injuries you’ll sustain success
The Mets rather than Yamamoto should target tons of mid tier free agents. Add them to the minor league contract depth and prospects and suddenly you have a chance
3 mid tier starters would be better than just Yamamoto or Snell
Right now they need depth and quantity
Snell will be a HUGE mistake for any team that gives him a long term high money contract.
Right. Or Seth Lugo. You’re basically adding misery to your team
The guys like Gibson and Gray are actually the better pitchers
Adams, Tonkin, and Lopez are decent signings but you have to keep them coming. Crick, Sulser, Scrubb. Just keep loading up
It’s been decades since they’ve been this active. And it’s only December
Plus they’re getting good talent. It’s not just stats and analytics. They’re picking up guys like Heineman, Short, and Kohlwey that are very good talents
And they got rid of Guillorme and the other guys that weren’t top talent
I’ve been very impressed so far with Stearns, at least on the minor league contract front
I’m not so happy about Lopez but Wendle is a big step up from Guillorme
He knows what talent is and that’s a good sign. Stats don’t win, talent does
Guillorme has a much better glove than Wendle
Yeah but you’re not creating a healthy environment when you have Guillorme on the roster. It’s not about statcast data purely
You have to have guys that are fit and talented. He’s been adding a lot of those guys. Not bums. Out of that culture you’ll produce winning. Not from guys with the best statcast data
If you add real talent (Thompson, Hummel, Wendle) to an existing core (Alonso, Lindor, Alvarez) you at least have a chance
Sulser, Adams, Ammons give you a decent chance in the bullpen
It isn’t all about getting Yamamoto. Winning will come from the choices they’re making for lower tier free agents
Last year they went with Pham, Mendick, Brigham, Leone, etc
Thompson, Wendle, Hummel, Kohlwey, Adams, Sulser have been a major step up from what they were targeting in previous seasons
Wait I thought he was the Left Tackle of the Jaguars lol
This Stearns guy is worthless
At least Syracuse and Binghamton should have winning seasons.
I hate to keep saying the same thing, but this looks like more dumpster diving to me. The Dodgers, Braves, & Giants are looking good so far, are we doing anything?