White Sox GM Chris Getz finding it 'refreshing' to know Luis Robert Jr. is attracting trade interest

DALLAS – White Sox general manager Chris Getz seems more than willing to deal center fielder Luis Robert Jr.

And, “refreshingly,” as he put it, Robert has “gotten a lot of interest at the Winter Meetings.

Here’s a refresher on where Robert, the team’s only position player with any star appeal, stands with the Sox: He flashed five-tool talent and a clean bill of health to go with an All-Star performance in 2023. He got hurt (again) last season and had probably his worst one of his five years, batting .224/.278/.379 with 14 homers and a 32 percent strikeout rate in 425 plate appearances.

He’s owed $15 million in 2025 with options of $20 million in each of the following two seasons.

The rebuilding Sox wouldn’t mind trimming that salary from an already slimmed-down payroll and, along with trading ace left-hander Garrett Crochet this winter, stock their farm system and current roster with multiple players.

"When you are in a rebuild like this, you have to look at ways to accelerate it,” Getz said Monday at the meetings. “If there’s something out there that we feel can move this along and take it to another level, we are going to consider it."

Getz said his price tag on Robert is appropriate “based on the talent that he brings to the table.”

He admitted there is discrepancy in how the Sox and other teams value Robert, but said other teams also recognize his talent and potential impact. Perhaps knowing the outfield free agent pool isn’t deep, and that teams that lost the $765 million sweepstakes for Juan Soto could look to Robert as a calculated option, he sounded like a salesman talking up his wares.

If only Getz were selling high on Robert instead of lower based on 2024.

But “whether it be a free-agent signing or a trade, it's the predictive nature of what this player is going to bring to the table in the future,” Getz said. “The tools haven't changed.

“Obviously, the injury last year was disruptive to his production, but the reason there's so much interest is because maybe a team feels like they can capture something that perhaps didn't show up last year. .. A player that could impact the game in so many different ways.”

Crochet, a 2024 All-Star, can impact a pitching staff in multiple ways, too, and he is an even more likely trade piece.

“There are only so many frontline, ace caliber type pitchers in our game," Getz said.

"There isn’t a team in baseball that wouldn’t take Garrett Crochet."

Including, perhaps, the crosstown Cubs, who have expressed interest in being a potential partner for Getz, who is friendly with president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer

"We've had conversations about various topics, over coffee on occasion,” Getz said. “If there's a match, there's a match. We've got to do what's best for the White Sox and if that means we knock on the door of the Cubs, so be it. They have a talented group that's working its way toward the major leagues.

On the first full day of the meetings, which run through Wednesday, Getz was coy about where talks stood Monday afternoon, saying “the market comes to you” and that a deal happening at the meetings is “a possibility. We’ll see."

Getz had Dylan Cease as a prized trade chip at last year's meetings and held on till spring training. So there's no telling when a trade will go down.

"There's a lot of conversations going on,” he said. “We're certainly not going to force anything, but if it comes to us, then we're certainly not scared to pull the trigger on something that will help us."