Mets pay up to take a chance on Luis Robert: MLB Trade Grades

For almost the entirety of his tenure as White Sox general manager, Chris Getz has been trying to find a fair return for Luis Robert Jr. The former All-Star outfielder has been one of the more disappointing players in baseball these past two seasons, beset by injuries and far too prone to strikeouts. Robert created a conundrum for the White Sox. He was too talented to cast aside, but his rising salary dampened any potential trade value. Getz was looking for a team willing to either take on Robert’s contract —which will cost $20 million in 2026 with a $2 million buyout for 2027 — or offer a prospective package tantalizing enough that the front office could convince owner Jerry Reinsdorf to eat some portion of the money. The problem was that Robert simply did not play well enough to merit a robust market for his services. For White Sox fans, this will look like a salary dump. Indeed, it is. I’m not sure what better option Chicago had. When the team held onto Robert last winter, the hope was that he would bounce back from a down year in 2024. Instead, 2025 looked like more of the same. He played 100 games in 2024; he played 110 in 2025. He posted an 86 OPS+ in 2024 and an 85 OPS+ in 2025. The team ran the risk of experiencing more of the same in 2026. In the end, the White Sox determined that the financial relief offered by the Mets, who will take on all of Robert’s deal, was enough to move the needle. The prospect of Reinsdorf saving some dough won’t excite South Siders who have suffered through some wretched baseball in recent years. Perhaps that money will be distributed elsewhere in an organization that has been trying to catch up to its rival in terms of infrastructure. Or perhaps this is just a tradeoff for Munetaka Murakami’s two-year, $34 million deal. Given the constraints, Chicago achieved a solid result. Luisangel Acuña has received an outsized amount of attention because of his brother and because of his late-September performance in 2024. But he profiles as a backup infielder who can play strong defense at second base, run the bases well and make a decent bit of contact. The White Sox employ a lot of players who are probably better served as backup infielders, and Acuña is out of options. Truman Pauley is a 12th-round pick out of Harvard who has not thrown strikes. As for the Mets: $22 million means a lot less to Steve Cohen than it does to Reinsdorf. (ESPN reported that the luxury tax hit for Robert will cost Cohen $42 million in 2026, but don’t worry, he’s good for it.) They are taking a low-risk flier on Robert’s upside. He is an excellent defender, which president of baseball operations David Stearns said was a priority this winter before signing Jorge Polanco to play first base and Bo Bichette to play third base. If Robert stays on the field and comes close to matching his 2023 production — 145 games, 38 homers, .857 OPS — the Mets would happily pick up his $20 million option for 2027. Andrew Vaughn revitalized his career last year when the White Sox traded him to the Milwaukee Brewers. Maybe Robert can do the same. Ahead of the 2019 Futures Game, Hall of Fame first baseman Jim Thome, the American League manager for the annual prospect showcase, sat in a conference room and assembled his starting lineup. When he arrived at Luis Robert’s name, he couldn’t resist the urge to wax poetic about the 21-year-old to a room full of his closest baseball buddies, including Charlie Manuel and Sean Casey. As a special assistant for the White Sox, Thome had seen plenty of Robert, and that 2019 season was his breakout. He was in the majors a year later, finished second in the AL Rookie of the Year voting, won a Gold Glove in center field and put up a .946 OPS in 68 games the following season. Here he was, the most talented member of a White Sox team rising to prominence in the AL Central. Robert faded almost as quickly as the White Sox did. His peak season came in 2023, when he amassed 38 homers, 36 doubles and 20 stolen bases. The two years since have been a nightmare: a ton of strikeouts, a .660 OPS, and a slew of injuries, all for a team that has piled up 223 losses. It has made teams wonder if a change of scenery would be the elixir to vault Robert back to that 2023 level, but his $20 million club options for 2026 and 2027 scared away many would-be suitors. Enter the Mets. Kyle Tucker, this is not. But just as the Mets were one of the few teams that could offer Tucker $50 million per season, they’re the type of team that could gamble that Robert might be worth the financial commitment. There’s a stark difference in certainty here. You knew what you were getting with Tucker, as evidenced by his fWAR totals the last five years: 4.9, 4.9, 4.9, 4.2, 4.5. Here are Robert’s totals: 3.4, 2.1, 4.9, 0.6, 1.3. Robert’s the player you take a chance on because you can afford to, not because you’re desperate. But this clearly wasn’t Plan A, or maybe even Plan B, and the Mets sorely needed another outfielder. If he can resemble the player Thome was salivating over years ago, no one will remember those painful last two years on the South Side.