Chris Getz is a man of his word, at least when it comes to Luis Robert Jr. He long maintained the White Sox were going to pick up Robert's $20 million option for 2026 instead of buying him out for $2 million despite it being an economically unsound idea in just about every respect, and according to ESPN's Jesse Rogers, they've gone ahead and done that.
It doesn't make a whole lot of sense as far as an individual decision. Robert has hit .223/.288/.372 since the start of the 2024 season while playing in only 210 of 324 possible games. Getz passed on the opportunity to trade him for something at the deadline, as he wasn't moved by the offers he received, but Robert then justified the market's limited enthusiasm by suffering a Grade 2 hamstring strain that cut short his season before the end of August.
Robert finished 2025 logging only 110 games, yet that qualifies as the second-highest total of his career. He's missed at least 52 games in every 162-game season he's played save 2023, when he played in 145 games, hit .264/.314/.542 with 38 homers, 20 stolen bases, and finished on the podium in the American League Gold Glove race.
Everybody's been chasing that high ever since, and not without reason. He's just 28, and the physical tools appear to be present, as he blasted past his career high with 33 steals in 2025, and his bat speed had been unmatched on the White Sox (although Colson Montgomery finally joined him on the elite tier and then some). He's attempted to develop his approach, as he set a career high with a 9.3 percent walk rate this past season. And while nobody would've blamed him for having one foot out the door, Robert was invested in the team's success, and unsparing about his own contributions to the team's struggles.
Those personal struggles just happened to be immense. Robert hit just .190/.275/.325 over 79 games in the first half of 2025; chasing fewer pitches, but missing the mistakes he'd normally crushed. It didn't click in a meaningful fashion until the All-Star break arrived. Robert opened the second half hitting .298/.352/.456 with superlative defense over 31 games before the hamstring took his legs out from under him.
If he can pick up where he left off, he gives the White Sox a player they sorely need. It's just a very shaky bet. Those who read "Thinking Fast and Slow" would say the White Sox have fallen prey to the sunk cost fallacy. Those who haven't would call it throwing good money after bad.
That said, it's not entirely indefensible, and it could become easier to stomach as the winter unfolds. The White Sox are dealing with a dearth of outfielders at both the MLB and Triple-A levels, so there is zero risk of blocking more cost-efficient options, either ones already on hand or ones that could be acquired. It's also a one-year, $18 million decision as far as the White Sox are concerned when accounting for the buyout which would've cost them $2 million, and that's roughly what Michael Conforto has earned in each of the last three seasons over two trips on the open market despite being injured and/or mediocre. The argument is that the White Sox could try using that $18 million on two or three possible solutions, but 1) the market could make that an impossibility, and 2) they'd be at least two or three players short. If there's any year to gamble, this would seem to be the one.
It's mostly weird because the White Sox don't really spend this sort of money, even for a single season of work. Assuming he lasts the winter on the roster, Robert's $20 million salary for 2025 would be the second-highest such figure the White Sox have ever paid. Yoán Moncada's $24 million salary in 2024 tops them all with millions to spare. James Shields earned $21 million in each of his last two seasons with the White Sox, but the Padres covered more than half that financial obligation, which was more than worth it to them in the end.
If this marks the start of the White Sox willing to spend inefficiently in the pursuit of upside in its physical prime, then maybe you'll see more $20 million salaries down the line. Maybe some of them will even be exciting.
