Talk about playing the long game. The White Sox refuse to give on Luis Robert Jr., both as their center fielder and a potentially valuable asset.
They surprisingly exercised a $20 million option on his contract for 2026 even though he has played only slightly above replacement level since 2023. Health has also been a major issue, with Robert playing 100 games in ’24 and 110 in ’25, when a mid-season resurgence was cut short by a season-ending hamstring strain in late August.
Robert, Andrew Benintendi and Korey Lee are the only members of the 40-man roster left from the start of the 121-loss ordeal two seasons ago. Their high salaries and inconsistent performance have limited their appeal in trades.
Benintendi, who is heading into the fourth season of a five-year, $75 million deal, has raised his production over the last year and a half, delivering an .830 OPS in the second half of ’24 before a second consecutive 20-homer season in ’25.
The Sox would surely trade Benintendi this winter but it hasn’t made sense to cut ties at any point, as the remaining $31 million on his contract is guaranteed. But Robert presents a different situation entirely for a team that has lost 100-plus games three years in a row.
General Manager Chris Getz could have taken the easy way out — some would say the logical way out — by declining the first of Robert’s two $20 million options in the six-year, $50 million salary he was given as an electrifying speed-power-defense prospect in 2020. The cost would have been only a $2 million buyout.
Instead Robert is being given a raise of $5 million from his previous salary.
Hanging onto Robert might seem reasonable if the White Sox were ready to attempt a return to their levels in 2020 and ’21, when they reached the season with a core built around Jose Abreu. That decision would have at least created debate. The one Getz recently announced does little other than raise eyebrows.
It is similar to the decisions Getz made not to take the best offer he could get to trade Roberts at mid-season in ’24 and ’25, amid a full-scale rebuild that saw him and his front-office predecessors deal away Garrett Crochet, Dylan Cease, Lucas Giolito and Michael Kopech, among others.
But Getz simply won’t walk away from a 28-year-old who has accumulated 2.8 rWAR over 210 games the last two seasons, hitting .223 with a .288 on-base percentage, 28 home runs, 56 stolen bases and a .660 OPS.
At least two things must be working in Robert’s favor: the White Sox can certainly afford him (outside of him and Benintendi the current projected 2026 payroll is $27.5 million, per Cot’s Contracts) and he must be good in the clubhouse.
There’s no way manager Will Venable, Getz and chairman Jerry Reinsdorf would have hung onto Robert for so long if he was a poor influence on Miguel Vargas, Colson Montgomery,Kyle Teel, Edgar Quero, Chase Meidroth and the other hitters who are the future of the organization.
Robert won a Gold Glove in 2020 as a rookie and continues to be solid, if not elite, in the field. Statcast’s fielding run value ranked him in the 88th percentile last season. His 90th-percentile sprint speed last season was his best since he was a rookie even though he was twice sidelined by hamstring strains.
None of this means he will still be with the White Sox next season. Robert’s name seems certain to be raised at the winter meetings in December, most likely in complicated multi-player — or even multi-team — deals.
In some scenarios the Sox could take on someone else’s bad contract. In others, the team could significantly pay down Robert’s salary to land a teenaged lottery ticket or two. Maybe they combine some version of both strategies.
There’s a possibility Getz is simply enamored with Robert. Maybe it’s the skeptics who are wrong not to expect him to jump back to his ’23 level, when he was worth 4.9 rWAR.
While Robert finished last season on the Injured List, he had elevated his play. He hit .298 with five home runs and 11 stolen bases in 31 games during the second half. That performance may have played a role in the decision to hang onto him.
Robert would become a valuable trade piece if he earned his way onto the American League All-Star team next July. But who knows? Maybe the Sox would hang onto him for another season.
Robert has another $20 million option for 2027.