All of the talk about Luis Robert Jr. and his value at the trade deadline appears to be for naught.
The deadline has come and gone, and the Chicago White Sox opted to keep Luis Robert Jr. instead of trading him to a contender.
As moves around the league occurred, many of the rumored suitors for Robert Jr. addressed their outfield need in other ways.
The Philadelphia Phillies traded for Twins outfielder Harrison Bader. The New York Mets got Cedric Mullins from the Baltimore Orioles for their No. 14 prospect, No. 30 prospect, and a 22-year-old undrafted free agent.
The Padres also made a move with the Orioles, landing outfielder Ramon Laureano and first baseman Ryan O'Hearn in a package deal.
By the time the dust settled, Chris Getz and the White Sox front office decided that there was not a trade return large enough to get them to part ways with Robert Jr.'s superstar potential.
It now seems likely that the White Sox will pick up Robert's $20 million club option for the 2026 season and bring him back next year. If he continues to dominate in the second half like he has so far in July (.353 batting average and .990 OPS), the Sox could potentially revisit trade talks in the offseason and get a bigger return that what's currently being offered.
White Sox are smart to hold Robert Jr.
It's hard to know exactly what Chris Getz and the White Sox might have turned down during trade negotiations with interested teams, but if the Sox weren't getting multiple high-end prospect, I think they're wise to keep Robert Jr.
Landing the 10th or 12th best prospect in someone's farm system isn't going to make or break the White Sox rebuild. Honestly, the White sox can probably get that same return for Robert Jr. in the offseason.
The onyl contract the White Sox are committed to for 2026 is $17.1 million to Andrew Benintendi. The team's total payroll is under $30 million. Even with the Sox pick up Robert's option, their total payroll for 2026 is under $50 million.
In other words, they can afford it, and with Robert Jr.'s OPS slowly crawling back towards league average, he might even be worth the $20 million Chicago would be paying him.
Worst case scenario, the White Sox overpay Luis Robert Jr. in 2026 for similar production to what he has done this year. In that world, Robert Jr. is still a 1-2 fWAR player for a young Sox team that should be even more improved in and desperately needs a centerfielder.
Bets case scenario, the All-Star variety of Luis Robert Jr. returns for the rest of 2025 into 2026 and Chicago gets a rebuild acceleration haul of prospects in future a trade.