4:58PM: The Sox will indeed be keeping Robert beyond the deadline, Feinsand writes.
2:08PM: The White Sox haven’t found an offer to their liking for center fielder Luis Robert Jr. and are increasingly likely to hold onto the outfielder rather than move him before this afternoon’s deadline, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez hears similarly.
If the Sox hold onto Robert, they’d likely be doing so with an eye toward picking up his $20MM club option for the 2026 season. It’s a risky gamble, given Robert’s lengthy injury history and the lack of production he showed throughout the entire 2024 season and the first two-plus months of the 2025 campaign.
Robert has performed considerably better of late, slashing .278/.361/.472 (130 wRC+) over his past 123 plate appearances dating back to early June. The ChiSox sat him for three straight days in early June as part of an effort to get Robert refocused on his mechanics, and whether due to that brief reset or pure happenstance, he indeed looks much like the peak version of himself.
It’s still a small sample of plate appearances, however, and Robert has frequently missed time due to injury in the past. There’s been interest in the talented 27-year-old, but not to the point where teams have been willing to offer up the sort of prospect(s) the Sox deem sufficient. A healthy two-month finish to the season for Robert could both boost his trade value in a more meaningful way and make that $20MM club option (a net $18MM decision, considering the $2MM buyout) look more palatable.
At the same time, the White Sox run the risk of encountering a scenario where Robert again falls to an injury or sees his recent production at the plate erode. Under either circumstance, exercising that $20MM option wouldn’t be all that enticing. Chicago’s payroll is quite clean, however, and even if his option were declined Robert would surely receive a big league contract as a rebound candidate. The Sox, it seems, are willing to run the risk of overpaying for his 2026 season by several million dollars in hopes that he can boost his value down the stretch or in the early portion of the 2026 campaign.
The Phillies, one of the teams that had been pursuing Robert, acquired Harrison Bader from the Twins earlier today. Other clubs that have been tied to Robert include the Padres, Reds and Mets. SNY’s Andy Martino reported recently, however, that talks with the Mets had stalled as of late last night.
Who would trade for this guy? Then pay him 20m?
It’s a club option. You don’t have to pay him $20MM if you don’t want to.
Yeah but the control will be baked into the price. Good rental bats are worth very little at the deadline, and Robert isn’t even that. The White Sox are going to want compensation for the 2 extra years of control teams have over Robert, even though his production isn’t good enough to warrant the price.
Chicago shouldn’t want compensation for the 2 extra years of control, as no team including CHI should be thinking about picking up those options. In fact, the buyouts that the receiving team will have to pay should knock down any prospect return. The White Sox should by trying to dump his remaining salary at this point.
Lmao, if you keep him you habe to pay him 20 mil. Otherwise, there is a buyout number and he becomes a FA
The Sox are likely going to roll the dice and hope that Robert hits better through the remainder of the season and into next. 20M is a lot, for a team with an actual payroll, but the White Sox do not have that. even for Uncle Jerry who throws nickels around like manhole covers.
Its make more sense as I think the Sox know, like most orgs, that Robert’s issue is more of motivation than lack of skill.
Im guessing you get him on a contending team and with a good coaching staff (not one that was fired by the owner and replaced with a guy out of the game for a decade) he will produce. He may not be Trout, but he is going to get you a stellar glove, speed and possibly a ..270-280 30 -40 HR 80-100 RBIS a season.
The best move the Sox could make at this point.. In for the penny, in for the pound..
He’s not the guy you’re describing
Yes he hit 38 HR but once and he hit above .280 once, in different seasons
He’s talented and all potential, and prone to injury. You can wish in one hand and crap on the other and see which one fills up first
Leo Getz little hrother, Chris would pay him 20M
Whatever you need…Leo Getz.
NO ONE.
Chris Getz nothing
8 suitors, according to the self-created hype by the White Sox.
He’s played like an all star again this past month so the Sox might as well keep him. They have no other good outfielders and none coming up in the minors next year.
It’s a team option, Jerry ain’t paying that so they’ll get nothing for him. Stupid on so many levels
To answer the question, several teams. Def the philis
Robert is getting better as a batter
Not Jonah Tong better
lol….hes not even batting over 200 and has been hurt again
Imagine that: the Sox are being dumb again.
If the offers were bad then keep him since he isn’t blocking a prospect whatsoever.
No way you keep him since no reason to exercise his $$20 million option. White Sox failed again if don’t get something for him. They played chicken and lost it appears
Or . . . they could spend that same $20M on someone who could actually help them win next year.
As they have done multiple times in recent years, the Sox overvalued their trade asset and may end up walking away with nothing. Then they’ll pick up the option to double down on the stupidity and take a gamble that next year he starts healthy and hot at the plate.
They might as well keep him. Their next best center fielder is a rocking chair.
It’s only another $18 mil for them to pick up the option and he could easily be worth that next year. Plus, the team is much more competitive this year so if there’s no great offers it will be better to help next years team improve even more.
Fear of who he was blocking doesn’t even enter the thought process. They were willing to pay down his deal, which is good, but stayed too greedy. Robert is a platoon bat and late-inning defensive replacement at this point, not a star. He has to earn that status again and it seems like despite a bunch of evidence that he won’t, the Sox are making a $20M gamble that he will. He still has some value, just not enough to justify the return the Sox are demanding.
> .800 ops since June 1st, so yeah definitely a platoon bat. Nice call. Glad you’re nowhere near my favorite team’s front office.
Are you promising 800 OPS going forward?
Theres been a little statistical variation with Robert over the years. There’s also that dirty, sneaky injury history.
A small sample size doesn’t undo the last year and a half of sucking. If this had happened last year, fine, it can undo a bad couple months. It’s not going to wildly change other teams’ perceptions at this point.
Also, .800 is good, but it’s not incredible. And yes, he’s a platoon bat. Look at his splits. Kills lefties, sucks against righties.
130 plate appearance sample size does not change the fact. And in actuality, his June was pretty awful too…so it’s really since July 8th. The other 29 GM’s aren’t buying that sample apparently. .
If they pick up the option and LRJ has another bad year, he will have even less value with the higher salary.
And the occasional lack of effort and focus…
Yeah that Hyrax cranky again with little insight no surprise
Hyrax fun at parties since 1974
Meh. That happens its only $20 M. Meantime he’s a good teammate on an interesting young group of position players that’s starting to gel. Who’s to say he’s not the grizzled vet at (checks notes) the ripe old age of 30 on a contending team in a thoroughly mediocre AL central that’s playing back down to their mediocrity
DDT, you apparently don’t have an argument against the stats or the idea that teams are going to value the last year and a half more than one really hot month. I’m bringing facts that you’re not refuting, so who’s the one with no insight?
Meh, stats are great for GMs to lowball their players in contract talks and other teams in trades, and for people that do not watch games.Just like the people that throw WAR out there every other sentence.
Robert needs an attitude adjustment no doubt, but considering he has hit 270-280, 35-40 homers and drove in 80 Rbis in the past he is likely to be able to do that again.
Teams know this, but obviously they are going to low ball the heck out of Getz, and sure he could be this bad, but I just do not see it with the right motivation and Im guessing other teams see it too.
At this point, so what!
If they dump players, they are going to get poor returns and the club would start losing more games.
If they hold tight, this team is going to play better and continue to win more games.
I’m not going to be very upset if no trades happen.
They decided the box of rocks they were offered just wasn’t to their liking.
If the Angels are going to be buyers, then Roberts would be a great addition to their disgusting outfield
Trout and Roberts over/under on being out 50% of a season.
Don’t forget Tyler O’Neill
Yeah but add the two and you get one (50% + 50% = 100%)
That would just be two mike trouts
He’d actually be worth something to a lot of playoff contenders, as long as CHI limited their ask. He should only play against lefties and as a defensive replacement with a playoff bound team from here on out.
Yeah because hitting at a .800 OPS clip when healthy with stellar defense and 27 SBs is a sign of a platoon player
He doesn’t have an .800 OPS. I can go cherrypick numbers from the league and find all kinds of guys who are platoon players or worse who hit well for a few weeks (which is all that he’s done).
He’s hitting like Billy Hamilton did in a Sox uniform, you should go grab him. Won’t cost 20M$.
Not you’re just making chit up, don’t think Billy Hamilton went yard more than (checks notes) twice in a White Sox uniform. But you do you
Luis Robert is hitting an abysmal; .219-.288-.368 over the past 1 and 2/3rds seasons. I wouldn’t pay 2M let alone 20M for that kind of production.
Agree, ridiculous for LRjr to be paid 20% of total Sox payroll!
The other players will revolt.
You’re telling me that hitting .186 against righties is not a good thing? Asking for a friend, DDTheo
When he hits lefties well, that screams more about coaching(or lack thereof) and the org than the player.
What an absolute disaster the White Sox are.
They don’t even have enough value in their own star players to move those guys at the deadline.
The only good players they’ve traded so far, they got: Aaron Civale and some guy named Gage Ziehl.
Disaster of an organization.
I still expect them to trade Houser, at least, and maybe Civale, too. Minor moves, but turning rentals into prospects is always prudent for a cellar dweller
Taylor and Tauchman along with a few relievers could still be moved as well. They might be able to maximize the return by bundling some players.
Forgot about Civale..LOL
If nothing else was done at the last minute, Houser and Slater are the only ones moved apparently, and that is criminal to me. I have a hard time believing NO ONE wanted any of those other guys, including Alexander (everyone needs lefty relievers), Tauchman, Benintendi, , etc, Ohh, they will not get a lot? So what? Most were FAs at the end of the year (If Im not mistaken), move them on for a lottery ticket or two…
I’m sure they’ll move someone by the last few hours.
Civale is also a FA after the season. They traded for him because they thought they could get more value for him than Andrew Vaughn. Now Vaughn is raking for the Brewers. Can’t make this stuff up for the White Sox
True, but if they’d kept Vaughn, he’d probably still be producing as little for them as he was. Don’t know if the Brewers unlocked something or if he’s just in a honeymoon period, but this outburst probably wouldn’t have happened if not for the trade.
Vaugh has had flashes of being very productive with the sox as well. He will average back out to his normal below league average self..
“True, but if they’d kept Vaughn, he’d probably still be producing as little for them as he was”
That’s a really bad indictment of the White Sox player development.
Honestly, if I was a high school player drafted by them, I’d probably opt to go to college instead. It’s truly that awful.
Sox were right fo cut bait on Vaughn who was lost and not someone you build around. He’s at best league avg at 1b w little no athleticism and subpar fielding. That kinda production is readily available on the AAAA waiver wire. Grindy tho. Good for him and the Brew crew for his nice little run
For hitters, I agree. They’re not too bad with developing pitchers, though.
” That kinda production is readily available on the AAAA waiver wire”
The copium is strong with this one.
It’s not that there were no teams willing to trade for Robert. The issue is that the Sox are expecting a prospect package that might not be realistic given his last 800-1,000 at bats.
Stupid organizations keep making stupid decisions.
Just move on from him and that disappointing era. Move on with a fresh start. Take what you can get.
Word is they want Jonah Tong from the Mets, which is laughable.
Mets don’t need anything more than Miguel Andujar. He kills LHed pitching which is the real issue the Mets have. They will be fine in CF with what they have.
The Mets are acquiring the Orioles CF’er.
oh no. i hope not Mullins.. that’s another LHed bat. 🤦♂️
Lmao. Not going to happen.
Sure it wasn’t Jonah Hill, Brad Pittz chubby asst with Oakland
Giants could potentially make sense for taking him on in CF as a flyer for two years. Jung hoo Lee has been a huge disappointment in CF, maybe moving him to right of left let’s him try to learn how to hit. I could see this working out but not sure what type of offer, sox seem to be acting pretty dumb about the whole thing
That’s fine. The Mets don’t need him.
I love the OPS vs lefties. There’s definitely an incremental offensive improvement for the Mets at CF.
Stearns is only trading second and third tier prospects like he did for Helsley and T Rogers.
Trade won’t happen because Mets view Robert as a deadline acquisition. Those options are suspect.
.990 OPS in July. 353/441/549 in 59 PA’s.
But there’s zero chance the White Sox are picking up a $20 million option for 2026. He will be gone to highest bidder by the end of the day.
Is there a worse run organization in baseball?
Colorado?
Boo yah!
Possibly. White Sox fans don’t deserve this. Colorado? Meh
Guess the hope now is he ends the season strong to pickup the option on him and maybe trade him in the offseason….
It makes zero sense to keep Robert at the deadline. This is either the Sox front office putting out disinfo or being dumb. Both plausible scenarios.
CWS could pick up the option and still be under $75M in total payroll next year. That’s the catch..see if he puts together a great year and 2026 deadline would look better for buyers.
No matter how low their payroll is, they can figure out how to spend that amount in a more wise manner.
They spent all season saying they were willing to pick up most of his contract to get a deal done and now on deadline day the team is like “Yeah, we’re going to pick up his $20 million dollar option”
So they could possibly be in the same situation next deadline with even more money to pick up?
Eloy’s protegee ‘lil Baby! Time will tell if he surpasses his mentor in Pale Hose lore.
Define Pale Hose lore!
The overhype on this guy is unbelievable. Hasn’t been league average at the plate in 2 seasons.
Platoon CF’ers are not worth 20M$….this is a bad move.
These articles are just a premature trade posturing newsleak tactics.
GMs playing poker, bluffing etc.
Same as SDP is probably going to hold on to Suarez, Cease
Some rentals eligible for QOs will be held onto.
Definitely possibly. Sigh. Faceplant.
Rules keep changing but there are ways to acquire useful players AFTER the deadline. Maybe a AAA player can be brought up for a spark.
Some players in the short term aren’t effected negatively to the pressure or expectations.
And So It Goes – Eh Billy
If Robert is still on the then team after the deadline… this goes to show how inept Getz truly is. No one was going to pay even marginal talent for a player isn’t hitting and is always hurt.
First law of holes. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. White Sox FO loves sniffing their own farts.
The stupidity on this site are stunning. His value is basically slightly more than zero. They can trade him now for slightly more than zero. Aka a career A ball player or hold him and if he hits like he has the last 120 AB his value is back and you probably get a top 100 prospect even at the price of 20m. If not he is worth that money and the Sox will pay it. This also helps keep them off the bad org list for running an overall salary of under 100m. Remember what pitts and tb did last offseason t
That’s a negative there B Thomas.
What B Thomas says
B Thomas:
The only stupidity I see is yours. They could’ve picked up a couple of top 30 prospects for him. A team would’ve picked up his remaining contract and then even if they were going to buy him out, the new team would’ve paid for the buyout for next year. They are never getting a top 100 prospect for him again. In all likelihood, his value will only be going down from this point on.
Which is why no one wanted to pay the price to trade for him now.
Robert got paid and became Prince Robert.
If the Sox pick up his option, that’s incredible.
Will he be good with a team for the stretch run, Id say so in that he is playing for his next payday but to entertain his option is ridiculous.
If the White Sox want to keep Robert around for two months and pass on the prospects, that’s fair.
If they think he is a different player on a year to year deal as opposed to a one year deal having to earn his keep to get his pay next season, that’s reasonable.
But he didn’t earn that 20M in ’26 and it wasn’t because he was injured. It was because he was fat in a metaphorical way.
A lot of people have no idea what’s happening in a front office tbh.
bwmiller79:
The White Sox are truly unbelievable and I don’t mean that in a good way. They almost have no choice now but to pick up that option and bring him back. Otherwise, why wouldn’t they have traded him? What a mess.
They didn’t really have anything useful chips to trade in the first place and they just traded Houser to the Rays for Curtis Mead.
I disagree, but I’m not with the team. They might like Robert and maybe he is a good teammate.
Maybe by keeping him they can renegotiate his contract and get him to sign a deal for less money than his option is worth. If they like him as a player and think he can still play at a high level. Keeping him around for the rest of the season and foregoing the prospects is worth the opportunity to renegotiate.
I like Tauchmann staying with the team. If they don’t get a good return on Tauchmann I believe he has a year of ARB and at age 34 could be a good candidate for a short term extension. Tauchmann has played great this year.
Robert – I would have been happy to see go, he was part of the LaRussa teams and the failed rebuild and I think it’s a breath of fresh air to depart from all the old baggage. Robert is the last of it. If you keep him around, it’s like a weed, you knocked it down but you didn’t get it’s root.
bwmiller79:
If they don’t pick up Robert’s option, then he can negotiate with the entire sport. Not that he’ll be in huge demand, but there will definitely be multiple teams interested in him as a reclamation project. So if they don’t pick up his option, I think he’s gone. I think ge’s going to want a fresh start at that point.
Maybe he wants to stay in Chicago and the team has discussed the options with him, and they are reasonable to him. They have the right to negotiate with him while he is under contract.
He had a good July, he has all the potential, it’s the big money that is hanging over his head and maybe when it’s not there anymore he will get back to the player he was.
The carrot in front of the horse isnt always a good motivator sometimes it creates anxieties and pressure that some don’t deal with well. If they can get together on a deal that makes sense, great.
Many situations that can occur in a person’s life that might not be aware to everybody, so it’s hard to be too critical of anybody having a difficult time but when it comes to the 20M option and to getting a good player in a trade, I’d say that’s the only situation that makes sense. That they like Robert and can renegotiate in the off season.
If they pick up the option though, Id say they overpayed him in ’26. He could play up to the deal, he posted a pair of good seasons over his six year contract but ’24 and ’25 were down years.
Hard to say, a lot of fans like myself like the slate clean moving forward.
bwmiller79:
Obviously, I don’t know the inner workings of the team, but I would think if someone declined my option I would be talking to every team in baseball, and the odds of returning to that team usually aren’t great. The guy actually might want to win something too. I don’t know how it’s going to all work out, but I just have a feeling they probably should’ve traded him now because I think his value is only going to go down. Time will tell.
It isn’t a slight to recognize your failures and start over in a sense. The options were in place as a reward to the team as much as they were for the player so in a way both are on the snide. If Robert likes playing for the Sox, if Chicago is his home, why not renegotiate at fair market value, on a contract that doesn’t put any baggage on your shoulders. He will start on many teams across the league and will get a deal, it’s his free agency. If the Sox keep him past the trade deadline its because they think they can sign him in free agency on a deal that works better than the 20M option.
bwmiller79:
I think this is more how us fans think than the players think. Otherwise, every player would just stay where they’re comfortable and renegotiate. The players move around all the time. He’s not going to want to negotiate to what the White Sox thinks is fair in all likelihood. He’ll go to the highest bidder. That’s not personal to him. That’s just the way it is usually.
That is because there are 15 players coming into the system every year who want your job. Most players don’t have the leverage to renegotiate. But talent and even flashing it for a month in July can have you back at the table in a sense.
The team always has the leverage in a sense in regards to staying put. The player always has the right to walk away all together. The player is expendable in that there are many to replace him. The player is valuable in that he can help an organization achieve it’s goals, to win the ring.
All the owners, they play for the ring. It’s why you own the team. It’s the ring that gets them to pay out big money for a player and the ring that keeps the players with the most talent in demand.
You can say it’s a business, and managing the business is part of staying in the game for most owners.
If a player has the ability to help a team win, he will be in demand in a way. If he has the talent, he will be in demand, and that’s what’s drives the entire ecosystem. The owner who wants the ring. Without that, it doesn’t work because you’ll always pass on the guy who has the talent for the next guy who is good but not as good.
That’s why Robert is still at the table, because he has the talent.
bwmiller79:
Yeah, that talent will stick in teams minds for a while even after a players is not productive for a while. That’s why I can see him having some demand on the free agent market. Not a hot free agent by means but definitely having some demand. Of course it also depends how he finishes the next two months of the season. That will dictate a lot.
Including the buyouts the White Sox still owe him about 9M$. If I were the owner, I’d be demanding my GM get rid of that from my bottom line. You can reinvest that 9M$ next year on a better player. No point in spending more money on a lost cause (which is the 2025 season).
Heck, you could even re-sign Robert on a 1 year – whatever M$ deal this winter…and come out way ahead.
Soc should be on the hook for about $7 m (roughly 1/3 of this year’s salary of $15 m, plus $2 m buyout for next year).
Negative soxy, he has 2 team options – each has a 2M$ buyout attached to it.
mrkinsm:
They wouldn’t have to decline both options. If they declined next year‘s option that ends the contract. They only have to decline the 2027 option if they pick up the 2026 option. But I agree with your premise. The White Sox are morons and they should’ve traded Robert. They probably will never get more for him than they will right now.
Robert is a master class in how NOT to handle marketing and trading a (once) good player on a bad team. The Sox really fumbled this one away.
I wouldn’t trust this organization to run a lemonade stand
He’s going to make all these ignorant Sox fans look as ignorant as all their comments are. Thank you Mets & Phillies!
Thank you I think?
“Whether he got better due to pure happenstance” – geez can Steve Adams be a bigger jagnoggle?
Piling on the White Sox is just low hanging fruit…
At least they’ve equalled their Sept 30th win total from last season
Yes, White Sox certainly can let the Rockies have that “coveted” record.
White Sox should have dealt him. I don’t know what they are doing here.
Yes but when the default setting is that Vargas for Kopech, Pham, Fedde deadline deal (actually looking better with time) id rather Getzie sit on his hands or play the fiddle till he learns on the job
And the White Sox will just let him walk after the season.
Dumbasses
Such a waste for a team that’s at least 2 years away from being 2 years away.
White Sox messed up. Going to lose him for nothing like they did Eloy Jimenez
Getz that he could get a haul for Robert and instead got nothing at all. Hard to imagine they pick up his option for next season and will instead get nothing but draft pick compensation
A draft pick is something rather than nothing.
Draft pick compensation?
The 2025 MLB qualifying offer amount was $21.05 million. The 2026 number figures to be similar.
The White Sox hold a $20 million option on Luis Robert Jr. for 2026 with a $2 million buyout. Are you actually suggesting that they would offer him a QO in the vicinity of $21 million dollars in order to “potentially” recoup a draft pick after buying him out for $2 million and refusing his original $20 million option?
It would be like, hey Luis. How about we pay you $2 million dollars to go away in 2026 and become a free agent and then we can offer you a $21 million dollar QO to accept instead of the $20 million we originally declined. Luis says that’s cool bro, Now I get $23 million dollars to play for you guys in 2026 instead of the $20 million I agreed to 6 years ago when signing our original deal before I even made my MLB debut.
LRJ will miss a good chunk of remaining games and get the 2mil go away. Joke is on him as well b/c he’s not getting anywhere near the 18mil difference on open market. It will be a “prove it” deal….and he won’t.
Are they really gonna pick up that $20M option for 2026?
Possible.
Idiotic comments from many people who don’t follow the team. Robert just got in a groove recently, so other teams aren’t seeing a big value. They can trade him in the off-season and either get a good return (if he stays hot) or keep him for next season and wait for another hot streak. The 2nd half Sox aren’t broken, so there’s no rush to fix things. Let’s continue to see what we’ve got and wait for better deals in trades.
Nobody will trade for him in the offseason when the choice is having to pick up his option at a price his production doesn’t line up with, especially since they can just sign him on a reclamation cheap deal when the Sox inevitably buy him out.
What you fail to consider is that Robert has a big injury history, and just sat out 2 games because of his leg. That hot streak may end, and he reverts back to the .190 hitter he ended the first half as, or he could injure himself again. The Sox were never gonna get a big haul for him, not matter what they thought The Sox see him as a controllable player. The rest of the league sees him as a guy with an injury history who finished the first half batting .190.
Another very disappointing trade deadline, we need someone who knows how too make deals We need someone with experience not someone new to the job who will come at a cheap price.
Pretty dumb to hold onto him, sunk cost.
Even if the Sox didn’t like the offers with nobody but themselves considering that team option next year, sometimes you just gotta cut bait.
Only this organization is high on their own nonsense to pick up his option.
Mr. Reinsdorf please sell the team. Terrible brand of baseball from ownership to low minors. Ask the Southside.
Sometimes the best trades are the ones that you don’t make.
This shows Getz is serious about the Sox competing next year. He will silence the doubters and haters, and everybody will know just how serious Getz is this offseason, when he picks up Robert’s 20M option AND signs Clevinger again. Just you wait.
White Sox have problems, they don’t know who to hold and who to trade.
I am glad the Sox were asking too much. It kept him off the Mets, thank God. For a guy batting just over the Mendoza line, people kept telling me he destroys lefties. But if he’s batting .206, and he destroys lefties, he really sucks at hitting righties. Why do I need him if he can’t hit most of the pitchers in the league? He’s not going to face a left hander in a late, high leverage situation. I’ve already got a guy who can go get it in CF. I’m glad the went with Mullins in the end.
I keep getting older. The White Sox stay … dumber than ever.
The White Sox owner is somehow equally as dense as the Bulls’ owner.
Glad the Reds didn’t trade for him.