White Sox Fumble A Huge Opportunity In Head-Scratching Move

As the trade deadline has come and gone, the White Sox were not nearly as active as they could have been. The White Sox had a decent amount of pending free agent pitchers that they could have traded, as the market was leaning heavily towards the sellers.

Perhaps the most disappointing move of the day, or lack thereof, was that the White Sox held on to Luis Robert Jr. After a very disappointing 2024 season, as well as first half to this year, Robert Jr. has been on fire over the last few weeks, which many thought would lead to him getting traded.

After an MVP caliber season just two years ago, Robert Jr. has fought through injures and struggles at the plate. While many thought that it would be difficult to trade him at the deadline due to his performance over the first few months, he still provided great defense, speed, and was a lefty masher. Despite his struggles, those attributes could have been very appealing to teams.

However, over the last 30 games, Robert Jr. has been significantly better, as he has hit .289 over those games, hitting even better over the last 15, as he has hit .353. This should have been enough for teams to take a chance on him, as he could be an important piece on a playoff team.

That must have not been the case, as the deadline has come and gone and Robert Jr. is still on the team. It likely wasn’t for lack of interest, as there were many reports that indicated interest from other teams. With the way that the market has been, this leads many to believe that Chris Getz’s asking price may have been too high.

The Mets and White Sox held talks about Luis Robert Jr. in recent hours, but the trade didn’t happen, per sources.

— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) July 31, 2025

While it was pretty much a given that Getz wasn’t going to get a top-100 prospect for Robert Jr., there were other types of trades that could have netted the White Sox a solid haul. Considering how many teams were emptying their top-15 for rental relievers, it is hard to believe that there wasn’t a very good offer there for Robert Jr.

Now, Chris Getz should not have given Robert Jr. away, as he does still have some value, but they needed to take the best available offer by the deadline, as now the White Sox are forced to play a waiting game. While Robert Jr. has a 20-million-dollar team option for next season, picking that up could be a risky play.

The White Sox certainly have the payroll space to pick up Robert Jr.’s option this offseason, but I can’t imagine that the difference of what teams are offering now compared to the offseason could be much different, even if Robert Jr. continues to play well. This doesn’t even take into account the injury risk you take by keeping Robert Jr., as he played only 100 games last season, and that was his second highest games played in his six MLB seasons.

Outside of an injury risk, you also run the risk that Robert reverts back to his poor play, as last season he hit only .224, and this year he is only hitting .213. His value likely got a solid bump from his solid month plus of good baseball, so this was the perfect time to capitalize on a trade.

I am more than willing to eat my words if Robert Jr. finishes up the season on a tear and gets a much better haul in the offseason or at next deadline, but things hardly ever work out in the White Sox favor.

While keeping him could work out, traditional White Sox fashion would be that he either gets injured or plays poorly, leaving the options to be picking up a 20-million-dollar option or letting him leave for nothing.

Robert Jr. is still a talented player and is about to be 28. That holds a lot of value for a team that is ready to compete for the playoffs. However, it seems that he isn’t in the White Sox plans for the future. Trading Robert Jr. would also allow him to play meaningful baseball and give him a much-needed change of scenery. Trading him next deadline could make things more complicated, especially if they are within striking distance of a wild card spot.

The White Sox missed a very good opportunity to get the most value out of Robert Jr. in a sellers’ market, which would have finally closed the book on the past failed White Sox core. It also took away the opportunity for Robert Jr. to get a change of scenery, as there are still plenty of flashes of that MVP caliber player.