WhiteSox2023

Well, the nice thing with his contract is that it is an either/or choice. If Robert has a good season, you have the choice to bring him back with his final $20 million option. If he stinks in 2026, you can cut him loose with a $2 million buyout. It’s basically either a 1-year, $22 million dollar contract or a 2-year, $40 million dollar contract. But yeah, the time to sell high on him was long past.

I think it’s at around $72 million now but hopefully someone else knows the precise number.

Acuna is a lemon alright. A formerly hyped-up prospect that likely won’t amount to anything other than a utility guy at best. I think you have commented on players’ sizes before regarding their hitting profiles and Acuna just doesn’t have it. He’s almost as small as Madrigal in size and stature and has very little pop to his bat. But he can play multiple positions and has speed. Honestly, this feels like acquiring a better Leury Garcia from years ago.

Outside of signing bonuses, MLB players get paid their salaries bi-weekly during the regular season. I did not hear that Luis Robert played winter ball this offseason, so outside of a very freak and unlikely offseason injury like you mentioned, the Sox definitely had time to trade him to balance out the payroll with Murakami’s signing. I don’t think it is any surprise that Robert was just traded right before Spring Training workouts start for the Sox on February 10th. But they definitely didn’t need to trade Robert on the same day that they signed Murakami to balance the payroll with Murakami’s signing.

Crazy how Acuna was rumored for the longest time to be involved in this trade. Some people definitely had the scoop. Too bad he turned out to be the top return in the trade when many were hoping he would be the secondary piece.

“And then he was traded…”

Conforto seems like an obvious choice. Boras only works deals with the Sox when it’s his free agents that are on their last leg.

Maybe I am mistaken but Getz became GM with Robert coming off of the best season in his career. Getz immediately started another rebuild, waited too long to trade Robert, and watched his value diminish into that of a utility player. If Getz can get praised for the Crochet trade, he should definitely be dumped on for this Robert trade.

Jon Heyman for the W… According to Heyman, “The Mets inquired about Luis Robert. But for the Mets to surrender prospects, they want money back to offset Robert’s $20M salary and hard-line White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf isn’t seen as likely to give money to Steve Cohen’s team.”

Getz is to blame for not trading Robert sooner. The Sox were never going to be competitive with Robert on the team. He waited long enough for Robert’s value to be at its lowest and to have a $20 million dollar salary and a $2 million dollar buyout. Getz has also been with the Sox long enough to know that the owner rarely, if ever, sends money in trades to improve the return.

Let’s be honest — Getz turned an actual asset into diminished goods and just got bent over a table by Stearns with no lube.

NBC Sports nailed this trade in one sentence. Their later comment isn’t too exciting either. ”White Sox acquired INF/OF Luisangel Acuña and RHP Thomas Pauley from the Mets for OF Luis Robert Jr. This doesn’t seem like a sufficient return, but the White Sox obviously didn’t want to pay Robert $20 million this year. Acuña sort of held his own as a 23-year-old in the majors last season, hitting .234/.293/.274 in 193 plate appearances. He’s intriguing defensively at several key positions, he runs very well, he has decent plate discipline and he’s not entirely absent of power. It seems like a utility profile, but given that he’s just turning 24 in March, there’s some hope for him as a regular, perhaps in center field. He’ll probably battle Derek Hill, Tristan Peters and Everson Pereira for that spot in spring training. Pauley, a 2025 12th-rounder out of Harvard, allowed one run in four innings in his pro debut last season.”

I would be shocked if Acuna isn’t replacing Robert in CF instead. The Sox seem to get obsessed with bad players for whatever reason.

Exactly. They never had any intention of paying his $22 million or any intention of eating any salary to increase the return on him. This trade is 🤮-worthy. Acuna is trash. Getz held on to Robert long enough to make him a worthless trade chip.

Hello Cashman. You can have Luis Robert for 1-year and $22 million or 2-years and $40 million.

Yes. On Christmas. Never forget.

No worries. Caulfield will be back on the first day of Spring Training — February 20th. It’s just a month away.

Yep. I also thought that Mevis was speaking his own language but the broadcast was actually glitching out. https://www.reddit.com/r/LosAngelesRams/s/U20D3Q5ZAL

Probably not, but he passed on a short and very makeable field goal. Also, Dexter gave the Rams a field goal on his stupid penalty. 6 point shift there.

Mundelein’s own.

Completely unrelated but I watched Stafford’s postgame interview and could not help but notice his ridiculous fake teeth. The dude is worth over $150 million and can’t buy a better set of veneers than those? I found this thread on Reddit from a year ago and someone just updated it tonight with the comment, “whiter than the snow tonight.” 🤣

A legitimate pass rusher is the #1 need. Didn’t Johnson pass on a field goal when they were on the 20 yard line?

Yep. Also not sure I’d want to have to see any team face Seattle’s defense.

Johnson must not believe in icing the kicker like he doesn’t believe in field goals.