Have the White Sox Changed Their Mind About Trading Luis Robert Jr.?

Up until now, general manager Chris Getz and the Chicago White Sox have been steadfast in their stance on centerfielder Luis Robert Jr.

Chicago hoped 2025 would be a resurgent season for Robert — one in which he’d look like his All-Star caliber self who hit 38 home runs in 2023.

But somehow, his first half was even worse than his nightmare 2024 season. Getz didn’t flinch. He set an asking price at the 2025 trade deadline that he felt fully encompassed Robert’s value. And when teams came up short of that price — attempting to lowball him — he opted not to move him.

The White Sox instead held Robert Jr. into the offseason, and proved they weren’t bluffing when they picked up his $20 million club option for the 2026 season, putting him back on the payroll and penciling him into centerfield for next year’s squad.

And just in case anyone didn’t get the memo, Chris Getz made it clear to the media as free agency opened: “We’re planning on him being in a White Sox uniform,” Getz told reporters. “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.”

Chicago is once again set to gamble on Robert Jr. They have the payroll flexibility to pay him, and if he returns to form, he’ll be offloaded at the deadline for a haul of prospects that could expedite the rebuild. Another $20 million club option for 2027 is strong incentive for any buyer.

I, for one, thought that was the end of it. I didn’t just have Luis Robert Jr. penciled into my projected White Sox Opening Day lineup — I had it written in pen. Sharpie even. I’m not sure how the team could have made themselves more clear that he wasn’t being traded.

But is it possible they’ve changed their mind?

According to a recent report from Kiley McDaniel and Jeff Passan at ESPN, Robert Jr. is no longer being viewed as a trade candidate “who might get moved.” A trade feels like a certainty — the only question appears to be where he’ll land.

“Now is finally the time, it seems, for Robert to move,” they wrote in a column featuring the top players who could be traded this offseason. “The White Sox held on to him after his excellent 2023, hoping to cash in at the deadline in 2024. Then, Robert cratered and took his trade value with him. Though Chicago wouldn't be giving him away, the combination of two bad years and a substantial salary would limit the return on any potential deal.”

So my question remains: Did the White Sox change their mind about trading Luis Robert Jr.? Because the last we heard from Getz, he was staying put.

If they did, it’s likely because the market for Robert’s services also changed. I don’t foresee Chicago sending him to a contender without getting back at least two of an organization’s top-10 prospects.

Passan and McDaniel make it sound like the White Sox would entertain a deal for low-level prospects and lottery tickets just to get the contract off the books. But if that were the case, Chicago would have moved him at the deadline. That type of deal was on the table then, and it will be on the table in the future.

Even if they hold Robert into the regular season and he doesn’t bounce back quite like they hope, his defense and baserunning alone make him valuable enough to a contender that the White Sox will get something meaningful in return.

So while ESPN gives Luis Robert Jr. a 60 percent chance of being traded, and the “buzz” around baseball is that he’s due to land in a new home, I’ll remain as firm as Getz has up to this point.

To raise the odds of Robert being moved, a team is going to have to raise its offer.

As of now, I’m not buying the noise. I still expect Luis Robert Jr. to play for the White Sox in 2026.