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White Sox Notes: Robert, Taylor

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Since being activated from the 10-day injured list following a minor hamstring strain, Luis Robert Jr. has hit .982 OPS over his last 43 plate appearances, only adding to the speculation that he’ll be traded at the deadline.  This hot streak has lifted Robert’s season-long wRC+ to only 77, but since he is continuing to mash left-handed pitching, rack up stolen bases, and display decent glovework in center field, there is more longer-term evidence beyond just the last couple of weeks that Robert could be a valuable asset to a potential trade suitor.

Though Robert has been mentioned in trade rumors for years, and the White Sox have maintained a high asking price on the outfielder even as he struggled through an injury-marred 2024 season and delivered little at the plate for most of the 2025 campaign.  Robert is in the final guaranteed year of his contract, but since Chicago holds $20MM club options on Robert for both 2026 and 2027, the Sox are “operating as if they will have [Robert] under contract for two more years,” FanSided’s Robert Murray writes.  As such, Murray also hears from sources that the White Sox “are not operating with a ’get something while we can stance.’ ”

Some gamesmanship could obviously be at play here, as naturally it hurts Chicago’s leverage if the club is even hinting at any desperation to move Robert before the deadline.  It was also a little over a month ago that the White Sox were reportedly offering to include some money in trades for Robert or Andrew Benintendi to help offset their salaries, and if the club is still operating with this mindset, that is more clearer evidence that the Sox would probably prefer to move Robert sooner rather than later.

Robert’s struggles over the last two seasons have left Sox GM Chris Getz in a tough spot, as he has been unable to find an acceptably high return for a player who (on paper) is one of Chicago’s best trade assets.  Coming off an All-Star season in 2023, Robert’s contractual control was seen as a major plus, yet those $20MM club options now loom as complicated decisions for the White Sox and any teams who may be interested in swinging a deal by July 31.  Those option years make Robert more than a rental in Getz’s eyes, but other clubs might only be willing to give up relatively little for a player they might not view as a long-term piece.

If the Sox really are viewing Robert as a player controlled through 2027, it adds credence to the idea that the team will exercise at least the first of those options.  With a $2MM buyout involved, picking up the option is an $18MM decision for the White Sox, and seemingly a pretty steep price for such an inconsistent player.  Such a scenario would seem more likely if Robert were to keep hitting well over the season’s final two months, but that isn’t something the White Sox can count on as we sit within a week of the trade deadline.  Not trading Robert by July 31 and then declining the club option, however, would mean that Chicago would be lose Robert for nothing.

One player who seems far less likely to be moved at the deadline is Grant Taylor, the rookie right-hander who has a 3.93 ERA over his first 18 1/3 Major League innings.  A source tells The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal that rival teams have been “all over” the Sox about Taylor’s availability, yet the team has barely been willing to even entertain these offers for obvious reasons.

A second-round pick for Chicago in the 2023 draft, Taylor made his big league debut on June 10 and has already opened a lot of eyes around baseball.  A .341 BABIP and a low 61.9% strand rate could account for Taylor’s uninspiring ERA, as his SIERA is a much more impressive 2.50.  Taylor also has a 31.5% strikeout rate, an 8.2% walk rate, and a fastball that averages 99mph.

With a Tommy John surgery and a significant lat strain already on Taylor’s health history, he has logged only 64 1/3 pro innings to date, as the White Sox have eased him into game action primarily as a reliever.  He has appeared in relief in 14 of his 15 big league games, with his lone “start” coming as an opener.  Taylor has already recorded three saves, so a future as a closer might be in the cards if starting pitching doesn’t work out.  Until the White Sox know what they have in Taylor, it doesn’t make sense for the rebuilding club to move such an intriguing long-term building block, even if it seems like Chicago could already land a massive trade return if Taylor was moved in the near future.

Padres Interested In Luis Robert Jr., Ramón Laureano

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The Padres have been looking for left field solutions for a while. Jon Heyman of The New York Post reports that they are interested in Steven Kwan of the Guardians, Luis Robert Jr. of the White Sox and Ramón Laureano of the Orioles. Their interest in Kwan was reported earlier this week.

Robert has been one of the clearest trade candidates for a while now. The Sox have been aggressively rebuilding and he’s not in their long-term plans. He’s in the final guaranteed year of his contract. There are a pair of $20MM club with $2MM buyouts. However, his mercurial production and frequent injury issues have made those seem less attractive.

He is at least in a good stretch now. In early June, he sat out a few games to focus on some adjustments to his approach. He had a .177/.266/.286 batting line at that time. Since then, he has hit .266/.349/.457 for a 122 wRC+. Even when he was struggling, he was still hitting lefties, stealing bases and fielding well. His improved offense of late won’t totally erase the memories of his slumps but it should help somewhat.

There have been some rumblings that the Sox could hold Robert and exercise the option if they don’t get an offer to their liking but that feels like an unwise path. They have already missed chances to sell him when his value was presumably higher. He had a great 2023 season but the Sox didn’t trade him at that time, when they could have felt they had four affordable years of club control. But in 2024, he was largely hurt and underperforming, which cut into his value. Holding him at that point and hoping for a bounceback was defensible, but then he his struggles carried over into the early parts of 2025.

Though he’s been better lately, he’s been inconsistent enough that it would be a real risk to hold him. It’s entirely possible that more injuries or slumps pop up in the second half, which would make it harder to justify picking up the option.

Laureano is also a logical candidate to move in the next week. The Orioles are in the midst of a disappointing season and are clear sellers. They’re not going to move controllable core pieces but general manager Mike Elias has admitted they will be looking to move guys who are “coming towards the end of their contracts.”

That should include Laureano, though he’s not strictly a rental. His one-year deal contains a club option for 2026. The O’s could keep him but he’s not a foundational piece for them, so they should be open to offers.

It also makes sense to sell him now since his career has been up-and-down but he’s been hot lately. He has 14 home runs and a .277/.337/.521 line this year, which translates to a 137 wRC+. He was sitting on a tepid .188/.216/.438 line at the end of April but has gone off since then with a .300/.366/.542 line.

For a few years now, the Padres have been dealing with a tight budget and various roster concerns. They traded Juan Soto ahead of the 2024 season, saving some money and adding rotation depth. They backfilled some of Soto’s production by signing Jurickson Profar for $1MM, which worked surprisingly well, though that also priced him out of San Diego’s range for this year.

The Friars tried to find low-cost solutions again. The first plan was a platoon of Jason Heyward and Connor Joe, who both got $1MM deals. However, both struggled and were off the roster before the end of June.

Another low-cost move is working out well. Gavin Sheets signed a minor league deal with the Padres ahead of this year. He has 14 home runs, a .253/.314/.424 slash line and a 109 wRC+. However, he’s not a strong defender in the outfield and would be better utilized at first base or in the designated hitter slot.

The trio of Sheets, Luis Arráez and Jake Cronenworth could cover first base, second base and DH if Sheets is no longer needed in left field. That would mean fewer plate appearances for Jose Iglesias, who is hitting .238/.297/.277. Tyler Wade and Trenton Brooks aren’t playing as often as Iglesias but are hitting .206/.309/.252 and .150/.190/.275, respectively.

Laureano has experience at all three outfield spots. Robert has only ever played center field. The Padres have Jackson Merrill in center, who is a strong defender. Since he’s signed through 2034, the Padres presumably wouldn’t move him for a short-term addition. Center fielders usually move to a corner spot with ease, so there shouldn’t be any real concern about Robert’s lack of experience in left.

With the Padres, the budget is an ongoing concern, as mentioned. Their offseason moves clearly showed a lack of financial wiggle room. In addition to Heyward and Joe, they gave small guarantees to Elias Díaz and Kyle Hart. They did give Nick Pivetta $55MM over four years but that deal is heavily backloaded, with the righty only making a $1MM salary this year, in addition to a $3MM signing bonus.

In addition to the financial concerns, the Padres have traded away a lot of prospects in recent years and their farm system isn’t well regarded. They have two strong pieces in Leo De Vries and Ethan Salas but all reporting has suggested the Friars want to hold those two.

It seems that president of baseball operations A.J. Preller is considering all kinds of scenarios in order to work around his constraints. Despite a questionable rotation, there have been a number of Dylan Cease rumors recently, though the Padres have also been connected to other starters such as Sandy Alcantara. It’s possible that Preller engineers a sort of musical chairs approach where he could trade Cease away for prospects or big league talent while saving some money and also bringing in other players. There have also been rumors that the Friars could subtract from or add to their bullpen.

That’s not unprecedented for the Friars. As mentioned, they flipped Soto ahead of last year for younger players, one of them being Drew Thorpe. Shortly thereafter, they used Thorpe as part of a package to get Cease. It’s possible that Preller again cooks up a number of trades that relate to each other.

Robert is making $15MM this year. About $5MM of that will be left to be paid out at the deadline, plus at least the $2MM buyout on his option. The Sox are reportedly willing to include cash in trading Robert, though that would be a way to extra prospect capital. The Padres would obviously welcome that financial arrangement but may not have the prospects, unless they get some in a Cease deal or some other trade.

Laureano is far more affordable, as he’s only making $4MM, which will leave roughly $1.33MM left to be paid out at the deadline. His 2026 club option is for $6.5MM with no buyout. If he stays hot through the end of the year, it’s possible that option looks like a good deal. In that scenario, the Padres could keep him for 2026 or flip him to another club in the winter.

The Padres have also been connected to Kwan and Jarren Duran of the Red Sox, though those are more long-shot candidates. Both of those players are affordably controlled beyond this season and their respective clubs are both still playoff contenders. Still, the Padres seem to be going over dozens of different trade permutations, so there are lots of different ways things could play out in the next week.

Photo courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski, Imagn Images

Latest On Luis Robert Jr.’s Market

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With the deadline just over a week away, White Sox outfielder Luis Robert Jr. figures to be one of the most talked-about names on the market. Patrick Mooney, Will Sammon and Katie Woo of The Athletic report that two clubs “made aggressive attempts” to acquire Robert last week but the Sox held out for a better prospect package. Along similar lines, Jeff Passan of ESPN writes that Robert is in “trade limbo” because the Sox don’t want to move him for “a reduced return.”

The Sox are running out of time to pull the trigger on a Robert trade. He is in the final year of his contract. The Sox hold a $20MM club option for next year with a $2MM buyout. The piece from The Athletic mentions the possibility of the Sox picking up that option since they have almost no payroll obligations, a possibility that Buster Olney of ESPN also mentioned yesterday.

Though it’s true that the Sox have almost no money on their future books, it’s still hard to see them shelling out an extra $18MM on Robert right now. He’s been hurt and/or ineffective for most of the past two years. They’ve already missed a few opportunities to flip him when his value was higher, so it’s probably not wise to kick the can down the road yet again. The option value could look decent if Robert is hot through the end of the season but it’s also possible that he is hurt or slumping again, meaning they would have held him for nothing.

It’s likely that Robert’s appeal on the market is up a bit, at least relative to earlier this year. His overall season is still bad, as he’s sitting on a line of .206/.292/.344. However, he has actually been in a groove for a while now.

Robert sat out a few games in early June. Manager Will Venable said, per Scott Merkin of MLB.com, this was to give Robert some time to focus on making adjustments. Though Venable said it would be for two games, Robert missed three, the games on June 3rd, 4th and 5th. Whatever those adjustments were, they seem to have worked. At the time of that breather, Robert had a .177/.266/.286 batting line and 30.8% strikeout rate. Since then, he has hit .267/.347/.467 with a more manageable 25.5% strikeout rate.

That latter line is still in a small sample of work. Robert had a quick stint on the injured list due to a left hamstring strain in there and then there was the All-Star break, so it’s only 102 plate appearances. However, it’s production he’s been capable of in the past. The 123 wRC+ for that stretch is in the same ballpark as the 129 wRC+ he had in his excellent 2023 season.

Even when he was really struggling, he was still providing value. He had a 112 wRC+ against lefties at the end of April and then had a 151 wRC+ versus southpaws in May. He has 25 steals on the year and can run the ball down in center field.

Though it’s been a rough season, there should be some appeal and it’s understandable that some clubs have attempted to get him. He seems to have the floor of a speed-and-defense guy who can fill the short side of a platoon. The ceiling is obviously much higher. FanGraphs credited him with 4.9 wins above replacement in 2023 thanks to his .264/.315/.542 line, defense and speed. He has shown glimpses of that over the past six weeks or so.

Teams will naturally still have some hesitation due to his injuries and slumps, but few available players have Robert’s upside. The market could also feature center fielders such as Cedric Mullins, Harrison Bader and Alek Thomas. Mullins had a great April but has been in a slump since then. Bader is having a nice season but is four years older than Robert, has a checkered injury history of his own and has never had the same ceiling. Thomas is a great fielder but a subpar hitter.

The Sox are reportedly willing to include cash in a Robert deal in order to improve the prospect return. He is making $15MM this year, which will leave about $5MM left to pay out at the deadline. That will naturally appeal to clubs with tight budgets. Robert hasn’t been connected to any specific teams yet but reportedly had eight teams on the phone earlier this month. As mentioned earlier, a couple made recent pushes. Teams like the Royals, Guardians, Mets, Phillies, Tigers and Angels are some of the contenders who could use center field upgrades.

Photo courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski, Imagn Images

Draft Signings: Wood, Fauske, Moss, Hartshorn

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Tuesday featured a handful of draft signings with a $2MM+ bonus. All signings were first reported by Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline unless otherwise noted. View pre-draft scouting reports from Baseball America, FanGraphs, MLB Pipeline, Kiley McDaniel of ESPN and Keith Law of The Athletic.

  • The Phillies announced the signing of 26th overall pick Gage Wood. Callis reports that the University of Arkansas product received a $3MM signing bonus that comes in a little south of the approximate $3.49MM slot value. Wood, a 6’0″ right-handed pitcher, is most famous for throwing a 19-strikeout no-hitter against Murray State in this year’s College World Series. Wood pitched out of the bullpen for his first two seasons in Fayetteville. A shoulder injury limited him to 37 2/3 innings during his only year as a starter. He struck out 69 hitters with a 3.82 ERA. Evaluators credit Wood with a fastball that can touch 98 MPH and has huge life at the top of the strike zone, while he has an above-average to plus curveball. His injury history and the lack of a present third pitch leave some scouts to point to a bullpen future.
  • The White Sox have a $3MM deal with second-round pick Jaden Fauske, as first reported by James Fox of Future Sox. The bonus for the Illinois prep outfielder comes in a good amount above the $2.22MM slot value of the 44th selection, signing him away from an LSU commitment. Fauske is listed at 6’3″ and has a well-rounded skillset and a lefty swing that impresses evaluators. He’s viewed as a slightly above-average runner and probably projects to a corner outfield spot.
  • The Rays went above slot to sign supplemental second-rounder Dean Moss to a $2.1MM bonus, Callis reports. He’s a Florida prep outfielder who’d also been committed to LSU. The 67th overall pick comes with a slot value around $1.29MM. Moss is a left-handed batter whose carrying trait is his advanced hit tool. He’s viewed as an average runner who’d be stretched in center field but doesn’t have prototypical power for a corner outfielder.
  • The Cubs signed sixth-round pick Josiah Hartshorn to a $2MM bonus that represents the highest ever for that round, Callis reports. The slot value was around $355K. Hartshorn is a high schooler from California. He’s a 6’2″ switch-hitter who projects as a corner outfielder. Most pre-draft reports had him outside the top 100, but ESPN placed him as the #53 prospect in the class. The Cubs were able to sign him away from a Texas A&M commitment in large part because they saved roughly $1.2MM against their bonus pool with an underslot deal for first-round pick Ethan Conrad.

White Sox Sign First-Round Pick Billy Carlson

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The White Sox have signed shortstop Billy Carlson, reports Jim Callis of MLB.com. The Sox selected Carlson with their first-round pick, 10th overall, in last week’s draft. The signing bonus is $6,235,900, effectively slot value for the 10th overall pick. Jesse Rogers of ESPN reported the signing first, noting the bonus would be “about” $6.2MM.

Pre-draft rankings from MLB Pipeline, Baseball America, ESPN, FanGraphs and The Athletic’s Keith Law all had Carlson ranked from #7 to #12 in the class. All evaluators heap praise on his glovework, with many considering him the best defender in the class. BA mentions his “silky smooth actions in the field with clean hands.” His arm is strong enough that he was considered a potential two-way player for a while, hitting 97 miles per hour with his fastball when on the mound.

Offensively, there’s a bit more hesitation. His hit tool gets more praise than his power, as he generally has a contact-oriented line-drive swing. Whether he will develop into more power as he matures seems to be the key question here.

The White Sox don’t have an answer at shortstop at the moment. Chase Meidroth is currently getting most of the playing time and is performing well enough this year, but he’s expected to be a multi-positional guy in the long run. Colson Montgomery has had a challenging year and is currently playing more third base.

As a high school pick, Carlson won’t be a short-term solution. He doesn’t even turn 19 years old until next week. He’s years away from helping at the big league level, but based on the reports, he seems like a lock to stay at shortstop in the long run. The only question is what he will be able to provide at the plate.

Photo courtesy of Patrick Gorski, Imagn Images

White Sox Place Shane Smith On 15-Day Injured List

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The White Sox announced that right-hander Shane Smith has been placed on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to July 16) due to a left ankle sprain.  Outfielder Will Robertson was also optioned to Triple-A, making way for two new arrivals on Chicago’s active roster — Triple-A call-up Wikelman Gonzalez and utilityman Brooks Baldwin, who was reinstated from the 10-day IL.

Taken out of the Brewers’ organization during last winter’s Rule 5 Draft, Smith has immediately enjoyed some success in his first taste of the majors.  Smith has a 4.26 ERA over 86 2/3 innings and 18 starts for the Pale Hose, and he was even selected as Chicago’s rep for the AL All-Star team.  It could be that opposing batters have started to catch up to Smith, however, as the righty has an 11.29 ERA over his last 18 1/3 innings.

Workload could also be a factor, as Smith is nearing his career high of 94 1/3 innings in a single season (set last year when pitching in Milwaukee’s farm system).  Smith has tossed 243 2/3 total innings over his four pro seasons, and he underwent a Tommy John surgery in 2021 that was the likely reason he went undrafted that year coming out of Wake Forest.

The White Sox have made a point of trying to keep Smith’s innings managed, as his last start on July 11 saw the righty throw only two innings.  While obviously Smith would’ve preferred to avoid this ankle injury, the IL stint does somewhat resolve the innings question for the time being, as the righty will now be out of action for at least the rest of July.

Padres Interested In Korey Lee

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The Padres are known to be looking for help behind the plate, and their search for catching has extended to the Windy City.  The Athletic’s Dennis Lin reports that the Padres have interest in White Sox catcher Korey Lee, who has spent much of the 2025 season either on the big league injured list or at Triple-A Charlotte.

It wasn’t long ago that Lee seemed like a potential building block for the Sox, as he opened the 2024 season as Chicago’s regular catcher and hit .309/.341/.494 in his first 85 plate appearances.  Unfortunately for Lee, his bat then went ice cold for the remainder of the year.  He finished with a .210/.244/.347 slash line in 394 PA, and his 64 wRC+ was the third-lowest of any 2024 player who received at least 300 trips to the plate.  Lee’s 2025 campaign then got off a rough start when he suffered a left ankle sprain in early April, which resulted in over six weeks on the IL.

Lee’s last big league appearance this season came on June 5, and he has since been playing in Charlotte.  With highly-regarded prospects Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero now taking over as Chicago’s catching tandem, Lee simply looks like the odd man out.  Blake Sabol was just acquired today in a trade from the Red Sox, which could push Lee even further down the depth chart or hint that Lee could soon be on his way elsewhere.

The Astros took Lee with the 32nd pick of the 2019 draft, and his 12-game rookie season in 2022 netted him a World Series ring right at the start of his Major League career.  Lee was dealt from Houston to Chicago at the 2023 trade deadline in the swap that brought Kendall Graveman to the Astros, and Lee has thus far hit .192/.231/.315 over 521 career plate appearances in the big leagues.

It isn’t much of a track record, though Lee has hit pretty well during his time at Triple-A, including a .262/.342/.438 slash line in 146 PA with Charlotte in 2025.  Lee was very good at throwing out baserunners in 2024, but Statcast hasn’t loved his defensive work overall, with generally negative grades for Lee’s framing and blocking (albeit in a small sample size of MLB action).  If Lee doesn’t look like a difference-maker on paper for the Padres, he is just shy of his 27th birthday, and might be able to yet unlock his past draft potential with another change of scenery.

As it relates to San Diego, Lee still could represent an upgrade on a catching situation that has nowhere to go but up.  Padres catchers have combined for -0.9 bWAR in 2025, easily the lowest of any team’s catching corps.  Veterans Elias Diaz and Martin Maldonado have a cumulative slash line of .190/.250/.296 in 342 plate appearances, and Maldonado’s once-acclaimed glovework has also fallen off, as per public metrics.

Eight Teams Showing Interest In Luis Robert Jr.

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Luis Robert Jr. has long been seen as a natural trade candidate, and interest remains in the former All-Star even as he is battling through a second consecutive difficult year.  The New York Post’s Jon Heyman writes that “eight teams have checked in” with the White Sox about Robert, without specifying the identities of any of these suitors.

After going 1-for-4 in Chicago’s 6-5 loss to the Guardians today, Robert concludes the first half with only a .190/.275/.325 slash line over 306 plate appearances.  Robert’s strikeout and walk rates are both near the bottom of the league, and while his .315 xwOBA is much higher than his .264 wOBA, even that .315 number is subpar.  Despite this overall dismal offensive performance, a few bright spots exist.  The right-handed hitting Robert has a very impressive .913 OPS against southpaws (but a .498 OPS against righty pitching), he has stolen 22 bases in 28 attempts, and his barrel and walk rates are above average.

Between this season and his injury-marred 2024 campaign, Robert has hit just .210/.277/.356 in 727 PA since Opening Day 2024, translating to a 76 wRC+.  His center field glovework has declined since a 2023 season that now seems like a career year, though Robert’s defense is still at least decent, adding another possible plus for any interested suitors.

Hindsight being 20-20, the ideal time for the White Sox to move Robert was in the wake of his All-Star campaign in 2023, given how his production has since cratered.  The Sox opted to keep Robert in the hopes that another healthy and productive season would only enhance his trade value, yet this plan has now backfired.  Even with the amount of interest that Robert is still generating, obviously the White Sox aren’t going to get nearly the haul they once anticipated getting for the outfielder, which is a big setback for a rebuilding team that still needs a lot more talent.

2025 is the final guaranteed year of the six-year, $50MM extension Robert signed prior to the 2020 season.  The Sox hold $20MM club options (each with a $2MM buyout) on his services for both 2026 and 2027, and this extra contractual control was once seen as another major asset to Robert’s trade value.  He has approximately $6.25MM remaining of his $15MM salary for 2025, so with that $2MM buyout, the $8.25MM price tag attached to Robert now might be too pricey for other teams to fully entertain, given his struggles.  The Sox are reportedly willing to include money to help facilitate trades of Robert and Andrew Benintendi, though one would imagine that’s a greater concern as it relates to Benintendi’s much larger remaining salary obligations.

Heyman notes that some clubs feel Robert could benefit from being “a complementary player,” which isn’t a surprise given his drastic splits.  Robert’s ability to still crush lefties provides some hope that he can get his overall game on track, as interested suitors might also feel that Robert can benefit simply from a change of scenery.  Still just a few weeks shy of his 28th birthday, Robert should be in his prime, and that big 2023 season certainly still lingers in the minds of rival front offices.

The Dodgers, Giants, Reds, Mariners, and Mets are among the clubs who have been linked to Robert’s trade market in the last couple of years, with New York showing interest as recently as May.  It would seem that probably every contender with a need in the outfield could at least call up White Sox GM Chris Getz to make a few inquiries about an asking price for Robert, and even a brief hot streak for Robert after the All-Star break could spark a minor bidding war.

White Sox Acquire Blake Sabol

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The White Sox have acquired catcher Blake Sabol from the Red Sox in exchange for cash considerations, according to an announcement from the Worcester WooSox. Sabol was outrighted off Boston’s 40-man roster earlier this month, so no corresponding transaction was necessary for Chicago to acquire him.

Sabol, 27, has now been traded for the second time in seven months. Acquired by the Red Sox from the Giants back in January, the former Rule 5 pick appeared in just eight games for Boston this year. He hit a paltry .125/.167/.188 in that limited time and didn’t perform much better at Triple-A Worcester, where he batted .167 with a .281 on-base percentage and slugged .299. That weak performance was enough to convince the Red Sox to risk losing Sabol on waivers when they designated him for assignment earlier this month, but he cleared waivers successfully and was outrighted to Triple-A.

Now that he no longer requires a dedicated 40-man roster spot, it seems the White Sox had interest in him as a depth option. The combination of Kyle Teel, Edgar Quero, and Korey Lee leave Chicago fairly well set up in terms of catching options on the 40-man roster, but the addition of a non-roster veteran like Sabol could be helpful given the youth of that trio. If two of those three young catchers need more seasoning in the minors at some point, Sabol could step in to help fill the gap at the big league level. The same could be said for the possibility of injury; one look at the Orioles this year shows you can never have too much catching depth.

It’s also worth noting that Sabol has had at least some level of offensive success in the majors before. While 2025 has been disastrous for him so far, Sabol did enter the year with a .243/.313/.392 slash line at the big league level across 121 games with the Giants. That’s a roughly league average showing, and it’s not impossible to imagine that his numbers could improve if he stopped spitting time between catching and the outfield and focused on one position full-time, particularly given the fact that Sabol remains in his prime.

Sabol is theoretically controllable until after the 2030 season, though it must be noted that he’ll be eligible to elect free agency following the 2025 season unless the White Sox add him back to their 40-man roster. Even so, that potential for longer-term team control gives the acquisition of Sabol more upside than the typical depth addition. As for the Red Sox, the emergence of Carlos Narvaez has more or less solved their issues behind the plate, as he and Connor Wong have managed to form a formidable tandem. Seby Zavala is likely the next man up on the catching depth chart for Boston, and that figured to be the case even before Sabol’s departure.

White Sox Acquire Will Robertson From Blue Jays

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July 10: The teams have announced the trade. Chicago sent cash back to Toronto in return for Robertson, who has been optioned to Triple-A Charlotte.

July 9: The Blue Jays are reportedly trading outfielder Will Robertson to the White Sox. The move, which has not been announced by either team, was first reported by @JeffreyCole2525 and confirmed by James Fegan of SoxMachine. Toronto designated Robertson for assignment over the weekend.

Chicago already has an opening on the 40-man roster after outrighting Vinny Capra. They’ll use the spot to take a flier on Robertson, a 27-year-old with three major league games under his belt. The Jays promoted the lefty-hitting outfielder in the middle of June. He was optioned back to Triple-A a little over a week later and DFA last week when Ryan Burr returned from the 60-day injured list.

A Creighton product, Robertson was Toronto’s fourth-round pick in 2019. He has never been a huge prospect, but he’s hitting well in his second season at the Triple-A level. Robertson has connected on 14 homers with a .292/.403/.578 slash line in 62 minor league games this year. He has taken walks at a massive 15.5% clip while striking out around a quarter of the time. The Jays have a fairly deep outfield and didn’t give Robertson an opportunity to see how much of that Triple-A production he could carry over against big league pitching. He has a bit of center field experience but fits better in a corner.

The White Sox could look to trade Luis Robert Jr., Andrew Benintendi and Mike Tauchman this month. Backup outfielders Austin Slater and Michael A. Taylor could also be traded or let go. They should be able to find a taker for Tauchman, who has taken the starting right field job behind a .297/.379/.459 showing. Robertson might begin his organizational tenure on optional assignment to Triple-A Charlotte but should be in line for decent playing time after the deadline.

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