Chicago White Sox’s Luis Robert Jr., watches after hitting a solo home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers in Chicago, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
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The timing to trade Luis Robert, Jr. might never be perfect, but the White Sox have an opportunity to try and maximize their return on the outfielder by waiting past this offseason. There was some question whether the White Sox would pick up Robert, Jr.’s $20 million option for 2026, but earlier this month they exercised the team option to keep him in Chicago for at least another few months.
“We’re planning on him being in a White Sox uniform,” general manager Chris Getz told reporters in early November. “What he did in the second half was very indicative of what he’s capable of doing and how that can impact our team. You look at the production we had when he was in the lineup, and oftentimes, it helped us win baseball games.”
Whether or not Getz intends for Robert, Jr. to be in a White Sox uniform for all of 2026 is a different question. It’s possible Robert, Jr. is dealt before next season even begins – rumors have circulated in the last week that teams are inquiring, and the winter meetings are set to begin in a week – so Getz will have a decision to make about how he really views Robert, Jr.’s future with the team.
While there might be certain advantages to trading Robert, Jr. this winter if the interest is there, the White Sox are better off waiting until closer to next July’s mid-season trade deadline.
A big part of the reason why that’s the case is the same as has been true of Robert, Jr. for a few years now. He has been the talk of the trade deadline for multiple seasons, but questions about his ability to stay healthy and perform consistently at the plate persist. Other than his All-Star 2023 season in which Robert, Jr. owned a 5.3 bWAR, one or the other (or both) of injury and underperformance have defined his career. For the past two years, Robert, Jr. has a combined 2.8 bWAR and has struggled to play in at least 100 games. If not for the .808 OPS Robert, Jr. posted in the second half of 2025, last season would have been the worst of his career.
Of course, Robert, Jr.’s 2025 campaign still ended a month early due to injury, so the ongoing questions about his physical durability remain. That’s a major reason why the White Sox are best off keeping him until next season starts and staying prepared to deal their center fielder at a more advantageous time a few months into 2026.
The hope in that scenario is that Robert, Jr. performs like the 2023 version of himself over an at least somewhat extended period of time. If he can stay healthy and hit like he did in the second half of last season and do it for the first two or three months of next year, then teams are going to come calling. The interest has always been there because of what a healthy Robert, Jr. can do on the field, so if he’s performing well, the offers are only going to get better than what Getz is likely hearing now.
At that point, Getz would be in the best position possible to trade Robert, Jr. and get a healthy return for him. The White Sox last made the postseason in 2021, ending what turned out to be a very short competitive window for a group spearheaded by Robert, Jr. The rest of the key members of that roster are all gone now, and trading Robert, Jr. would represent the last step toward moving on from that group of players, but like the others, dealing Robert, Jr. needs to primarily be about bettering the team going forward. The White Sox made steps in that direction last season, but there is still a lot of progress to be made.
No timing will necessarily be perfect in that regard, but it makes the least amount of sense to trade Robert, Jr. now. After picking up his $20 million option for 2026, it is to the team’s best advantage to bank on him starting off the season healthy and hitting the ball like they know he can. There is risk involved in that approach, of course; it’s just as possible – if not even more likely given his history – that Robert, Jr. gets injured again and starts off slowly (or on the injured list) in 2026.
But the White Sox cannot afford to approach things with Luis Robert, Jr. assuming that will happen. If they did, then trading him this winter would make the most sense. But for the sake of the team’s long term success, they have to roll with the hope that he is healthy and raking to start next season so they can deal him before the July trade deadline.