Last offseason, the Reds were among the teams linked to Luis Robert Jr. in trade conversations. The White Sox surprisingly held onto their center fielder both last winter and beyond the trade deadline. They’ve been content to keep him into 2026 but aren’t closed off to talks.
Bob Nightengale of USA Today and Gordon Wittenmyer of The Cincinnati Enquirer each report that the Reds have resumed discussions with the Sox. Nightengale also lists the Mets as a possibility. Robert has been more loosely tied to Pittsburgh, San Diego and Philadelphia at points throughout the offseason.
The Reds have yet to upgrade a lineup that ranked 14th in scoring despite playing half its games at Great American Ball Park. Their park-adjusted offense was eight percentage points below league average. That tied them with the Angels and Rangers for fifth-worst in MLB. Cincinnati made a run at Kyle Schwarber but reportedly viewed the Ohio native as a unique free agent. There’s no indication they’re going to reallocate the $25MM annual salary that they offered Schwarber elsewhere on the free agent market.
Robert will make $20MM next season. Wittenmyer writes that the White Sox may be willing to eat roughly half that salary to facilitate a trade. There’s a matching club option for the 2027 campaign. Chicago’s seeming willingness to pay down part of the contract would be conditional on getting a package of controllable talent that they like. Robert isn’t a pure salary dump. If the Sox had viewed him as a negative value asset, they would have bought him out for $2MM at the beginning of the winter.
Cincinnati has a quality center fielder in TJ Friedl. They don’t have an everyday option in left, where Friedl’s below-average arm strength would be less of a concern. Robert would certainly upgrade the outfield defense, though it’s less clear whether he’s a consistent enough hitter to be Cincinnati’s marquee offseason pickup. He has been a well below-average hitter since his 38-homer campaign two years ago. Robert owns a .223/.288/.372 batting line with a near-30% strikeout rate in 856 plate appearances since the start of 2024. He looked like he was turning a corner in the second half of ’25 but suffered a season-ending hamstring strain in August.
The Mets have a clearer need in center field. Tyrone Taylor projects as the starter despite hitting .223/.279/.319 across 341 plate appearances this past season. Top prospect Carson Benge is looming but struggled in his first 24 Triple-A contests after raking up through Double-A. He’s likely to begin the year in the minors. Left field is wide open following the Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil trades.
New York is virtually certain to add an outfielder. Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic write that they’re looking to add a right-handed bat somewhere in the lineup. Robert qualifies and is coming off a strong season against left-handed pitching. He was terrible against southpaws in 2024 but raked against them in every other season and has a lifetime .293/.367/.505 slash with the platoon advantage.
Wittenmyer has zero good sources, so take this “report” with a shaker of salt.
He does have a history in Chicago, albeit on the Cubs beat instead of the White Sox.
metzfan the story came out yesterday
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Robert is a tough guy to figure out.
Feels like the Sox want a lot for him still.
I don’t think so. Not much of a market for him
@spudchukar
Not if you’re a pitcher.
He still mashes lefties, but a righty with a good slider can get him out pretty easily.
He must not be facing many lefties, what with a .225 avg and a .660 OPS.
Robert had 113 PA against lefties, 318 PA against righties. The league split overall for right-handed batters was 67,867 PA against righties and 34,500 PA against lefties.
By percentage, 26.2% of Robert’s PA were against lefties, compared to a league-wide split of 33.7%.
Basically, you’re right; he did not face many lefties when compared to other right-handed batters.
Hopefully they trade less for him than Gavin Lux
Might just depend on the cash involved? Pay more to send less… but the Sox might want to foot some bill lest they dip into Grievance territory?
White Sox aren’t CBT recipients so they can run their payroll as low as they want.
Thanx Wade!
Yeah, Lux is a big ole piece of poop.
I hope this is not true. Overpaid, injury prone, and while his 2023 season showed some promise, he isn’t that homerun or rbi guy the Reds desperately need.
Exactly. Sounds like grasping at straws as usual. Getting someone actually competent is not in his DNA it seems.
Who is then ? I say go for it. Doubt it costs much at this point. Prob one guy we cringe over vs the 3/4 they were gonna give up 2 years ago
Only way I’m ok with this is if it’s him and someone else. If this is the hat you are hanging a long term rebuild on… no thank you. If it’s him and the Reds go and get someone else that’s a legit contributor in the lineup I’d be intrigued.
I’m hoping it’s a nobody from the Mets and they take on that 20 million.
Mr Reinsdorf?
Robert seems like the kind of guy who will turn into a huge slugger if he relocates.
Let the Mets have him, he’s washed up.
I really doubt he gets traded. This is just good old Bobby Nightingale speculation.
Can we please stop with this LRJ garbage? Who is going to take a $20 mil IL stint? The guy has played over 100 games twice in his career, and has an injury list longer than Cal Ripken’s consecutive game streak. He didn’t get traded last season because he tweaked his hamstring just before the deadline, and then killed his season with a hamstring injury in August. The White Sox were stupid enough to pick up that option, let them live with it.
They had interest a year and a half ago and offered nothing. Since Luis has gotten worse and Cincy hasn’t gotten more desperate, I doubt anything happens.
Change of scenery w Uncle Ter! A real leader and Clubhouse.
He can very well have an MVP Type Year.
That Ballpark is a launching Pad!
I want to see this!
I have been watching Luis Robert on a daily basis since his career started on the south side. At times he has been the best centerfielder in the league. It’s difficult watching him at times because you know he has the potential to be great. If someone told me he was traded and won the MVP next year I would not be surprised. He can be that good. Problem with Robert is he is not motivated. He truly has all the talent in the world. If another team grabs him, and finds a way to motivate him watch out.
His motivation is the 2027 option….
That’s 20MM good reasons!
I could see him having a big power year in their ballpark.
They seem like a good trade candidate for Luis Matos
Please don’t trade him to the Pirates. I don’t want to hear Greg Brown complain for five minutes straight when Robert doesn’t sprint full speed on a hard groundout to short in the 9th inning down by 7. “It’s not because he’s Dominican” half of pirates Twitter will say. But Brown won’t say a word when Reynolds does the same thing weeks later.
After the success that Vaughn and Sheets had after leaving the Sox, it would be a mistake not to give Robert a chance to straighten things out with a new hitting coach and a lot more protection in the lineup.
Do it Phillies, you’ll have a legit RH bat to compliment Marsh/Crawford – super 4th OF’er, starts 2 of 3, in a series – lurking on the bench to PH late vs. high leverage lefty in the game he doesn’t start. Trade them some useful young and inexpensive guys from the big league roster – with a package of prospects not named Miller, Crawford or Painter – and get Kyle Teel in the deal.
They’re probably looking for a comp pick. If Robert rebuilds his value during the year they might be able to trade him for one while paying down some salary and get that pick for this upcoming loaded draft