The trade market of White Sox outfielder Luis Robert Jr. has been a main storyline to watch for the team throughout the early part of the offseason. The White Sox made the decision to pick up Robert’s option after a strong showing in the second half, albeit one that ended prematurely after a hamstring injury in August. Despite him being heavily mentioned in trade rumors for the past calendar year, Robert’s underperformance and injury history haven’t netted General Manager Chris Getz a satisfactory trade return to this point, and Robert remains a member of the White Sox. Getz has stated his intention to have Robert on the roster next season, but it hasn’t stopped trade speculation from continuing.
A recent report from New York Post’s Jon Heyman, however, has shed some light on a potential problem in trade talks for the White Sox.
According to Heyman, “The Mets inquired about Luis Robert. But for the Mets to surrender prospects, they want money back to offset Robert’s $20M salary and hard-line White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf isn’t seen as likely to give money to Steve Cohen’s team.”
Yet another example for White Sox fans of Jerry Reinsdorf inhibiting the decisions of his baseball executives. Luis Robert Jr. had an excellent 2023 season but has yet to replicate it. He’s making significantly more money than he’s been worth as a player over the past two seasons. Everyone knows the talent Robert has, but even a spendy team such as the Mets aren’t willing to pay $20 million for untapped potential. The White Sox had to know they’d need to include some money to get any kind of return and Reinsdorf’s unwillingness to do so is going to be a serious problem. Perhaps this explains Chris Getz’s repeated insistence that he expects Robert with the team for 2026.
Getz also reiterated he expects Luis Robert Jr. to be part of the White Sox moving forward
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) September 17, 2025
The White Sox have passed on multiple opportunities to move Robert Jr.
Many folks felt that the White Sox made the wrong decision holding onto Robert at the deadline. But it’s impossible to know how wise the decision was without knowing what kind of offers were on the table. The White Sox did engage with the Mets at the deadline with names like Luisangel Acuna, Brett Baty, and Mark Vientos coming up in rumors, but it’s unknown whether any of those players were actually in play. Regardless, the two sides could never come to an agreement, and the White Sox unwillingness to include salary relief severely hurts the chances that they ever will.
Why the Mets, who currently have the richest owner in all of baseball, are unwilling to pay Robert’s full salary is unknown. But it’s a huge red flag about Robert’s market if a team that normally doesn’t care about expensive salaries does care in this situation. Unless Reinsdorf and the White Sox have a change of heart, I don’t see them being able to move Robert at all. The White Sox own another team option on Robert for the 2026 season for another $20 million, so there’s no urgency to get a deal done now, but unless Robert has a big first half, I’m not sure the White Sox find a deal they like at the trade deadline either. Luis Robert Jr. may be in Chicago for the next two years, whether that’s for better or for worse.
Chris Getz has made many positive changes to the organization and continues to work on reshaping a philosophy that needed modernization. But every so often, the reality of a team owned by Jerry Reinsdorf rear its ugly head, and sometimes the White Sox just can’t get out of their own way.