Unless something comes out of the blue, the Chicago White Sox will be keeping former All-Star outfielder Luis Robert Jr.
The front office was hoping to trade the talented but oft-injured player before Opening Day.
However, general manager Chris Getz recently confirmed a deal is unlikely to happen despite still having some teams showing interest.
Chris Getz joins The White Sox Podcast with @ChuckGarfien and addresses the Luis Robert Jr. trade rumors ⬇️@RuthiePolinsky | @GabeRamirez | @C1McKnight | #ChicagoLead pic.twitter.com/AGYsbPRTlq
— White Sox on CHSN (@CHSN_WhiteSox) March 20, 2025
The reason why Robert Jr. will be the Opening Day starting centerfielder barring something unforeseen is it comes down to Getz valuing LRJ based on his 2023 All-Star production. Other teams are valuing him as an always-injured player whose production cratered in 2024.
That makes it hard to get a deal done, especially when talent-wise, Robert Jr. is the last remaining valuable asset the Sox have toward getting a return that could accelerate this massive rebuild.
Getz cannot settle for pennies on the dollar even though it is reported that is what he is being offered.
The Cincinnati Reds were reportedly interested in Luis Robert Jr. and even offered at least one of their top five prospects. They were unwilling to accommodate Getz's request for another top-five prospect and rightfully so.
Unless LRJ proves he can stay healthy and return to 2023 form, it is a major gamble for a small-market team like the Reds to give up some of their prized (and cheap) prospects.
Robert Jr. now stays but he will be traded at some point this season.
He is now in the same boat as Garrett Crochet was. The club control no longer matches up to the timeline of when the White Sox might be competitive again.
Meaning he is signed through 2027 and that might be the first season the White Sox could realistically compete for a wild card spot. Plus, he will be 30 and he is not likely to sign another extension since his represented by Scott Boras.
The same logic applied to Crochet as why the team dealt him in the offseason.
In addition, "Louie" Robert is also in the same situation as Yoan Moncada was last season. This is Robert Jr's last year of guaranteed money. He has two $20 million club options with a $2 million buyout.
Another injury-riddled season could mean the Sox have to pay Robert Jr. to go away much like they did last October with Moncada after he played in just 12 games because of another major injury during his final year of guaranteed money.
Finally, if LRJ does return to 2023 levels, the Sox are still going nowhere in the standings for at least the next two seasons. Better to keep replenishing the farm system with potential impact players than keep Robert Jr. just because he is a draw.
The key now is determining when to trade him.
It is a topic JustBaseball.com's Elijah Evans recently tackled. He outlined three windows of opportunity to get the desired return for the star player.
The first window is sometime in May like what the Miami Marlins did last season with Luis Arraez. The other is before the trade deadline. The final one is to hang onto him and make a trade next offseason.
The May timeframe is probably the most opportune time if Robert Jr. can get through April healthy. That would be a major accomplishment since the White Sox play all but three games in the Midwest or on the East Coast. "Louie" has even acknowledge his body does not adjust well to the cold.
If he can produce decent numbers and get through playing in likely chilly weather, Getz should jump at the chance to deal him to team desperate to jump the market.
As Evans pointed out in his work, that situation is likely to play out if say the Philadelphia Phillies fall behind early in the NL East race.
Plus, dealing him in May erases the potential of LRJ picking up an injury before the trade deadline at the end of July.