White Sox Won't Dump Robert, Hoping He'll Rebuild His Trade Value

Forbes

01-08-2025

The old saying instructs us that if you don't succeed, try, try and try again. But in regards to getting a strong return in trading Luis Robert Jr., Chris Getz is adding a fourth verb to the bromide.
The White Sox general manager is willing to try, try, try and try again.
For the third consecutive trading period, Getz wouldn't take yes for an answer when he had chances to trade the 27-year-old center field. Rarely has an executive ever shown the kind of patience that Getz is displaying with the 2023 All-Star and Silver Slugger winner, who has diminished his trade value by hitting .219 with a .656 OPS since the start of '24.
Robert was at his worst in the first month of this season, hitting .138 with two home runs and 30 strikeouts in his first 23 games. While he's looked more like himself since then (.241 with a .713 OPS, nine homers and 20 stolen bases), his .653 OPS represents a career low.
There was a belief heading into Thursday's trade deadline that Robert would be dealt for the best offer, as this is the final guaranteed year in the $50 million deal he signed before his rookie season. But Getz knew something that few others did. He has the backing of ownership to pick up a $20 million option for next season, extending the effort to trade him.
It began in the middle of the 121-loss season in '24 and continued through the off-season leading into '25. Now he'll cross his fingers that Robert can ride his team's encouraging wave of run-production through August and September, improving his value for this winter's marketplace.
The hope is Robert will have broad appeal given his contract still has two years of control for $40 million, with an acquiring team owing only $22 million guaranteed. A trade for Robert could seem quite attractive to teams that opt to look beyond Kyle Tucker, Kyle Schwarber and the seemingly always available Cody Bellinger.
While Getz's decision to hang onto Robert seemed to catch analysts off guard, there's almost no financial pressure on the second-year GM. The White Sox have only $35.7 million in guaranteed contracts on the books beyond this season. Almost all of it belongs to left fielder Andrew Benintendi, who is another possible piece for the off-season trade market.
Getz told reporters there was 'an effort to acquire him, but certainly it wasn't to the level we felt like could have met the mark for us to make a move on from a talent like Luis Robert.' The Sox are 8-4 since the All-Star break, and Getz credits Robert for contributing 'a lot' of the momentum toward avoiding a third consecutive 100-loss season. He's hitting .406 with two homers, five stolen bases and as many walks as strikeouts (five) in his last nine games.
Fragile health is always part of the Robert narrative, and it's possible his missing three recent games with a tight adductor muscle led some interested teams to look elsewhere. Robert had been on the radar for the Mets, Phillies and Padres but those teams traded for Cedric Mullins, Harrison Bader and Ramon Laureano, respectively.
Robert has played more than 100 games only once in the previous four seasons. He's played in 88 of 109 this season, putting him on pace for 131. Getz would love him to exceed that total.
The White Sox did make a trade with upside shortly before the 6 p.m. ET deadline, sending consistently solid starting pitcher Adrian Houser to Tampa Bay for a package of prospects headed by bat-first utility man Curtis Mead. The 24-year-old Australian had been a top-50 MLB prospect before slipping through the cracks with the talent-rich Rays. That was a nice return for Houser, whom the Sox signed in May after he was released by Texas.
Notably Getz held onto his deep batch of controllable pitchers who have emerged this season. Grant Taylor, who was Paul Skenes' wing man at LSU, drew the most interest in the group that includes Brandon Eisert, Mike Vasil, Shane Smith, Sean Burke and Jordan Leasure.
The Sox also held onto starter Aaron Civale, acquired from Milwaukee in June. That hints he may be a candidate for a contract extension, keeping him off the free agent market.