10 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

Turns out the Sox wanted Bady, were offered Vientos, and the teams settled on Acuna.

Sports Mockery

White Sox Luis Robert Trade Nearly Took Another Direction

New details from Chicago White Sox trade talks with the New York Mets reveal the return for Luis Robert Jr. could have looked much different.

Interesting. So Acuna wasn’t their first choice.

Also, years of control wasn’t the only big factor, which Acuna has the most of (free agent in 2032). Both Baty and Vientos have 2 less years of control (free agents in 2030).

“The South Siders preferred Acuña to Vientos since they weren’t looking for a hit-first righty batter,” Heyman reported”

The Sox wanted a switch hitter, not a dang righty batter

I don't think Vientos really would be of much use to the Sox once Murakami was in the fold. I'd rather play Vargas at 3B, Murakami at 1B. I suppose Vientos could DH against LHP, but we certainly want to keep that open for our catchers too. Meh, this doesn't really bother me. Sox could probably grab Vientos from the waiver wire in a week or two anyway, out of options and has 5 PA so far this year. Clearly the Mets don't really care for him.

Think I'd rather have Acuña over Vientos too. Would've rather gotten a deal done with Philly or Cinci though. Or just kept LuBob til his value recovered, he's certainly off to a nice start.

Edited Thursday at 04:30 PM2 days by nrockway

Thing is, Robert wasn’t going to recover value here because he is a player that needs other great hitters around him. I said this last summer. He’s not a Soto, Judge type hitter. But he’s a Schwarber type hitter; when there’s good players around him, he can carry you. When there’s not, he looks like hot garbage.

It's an interesting footnote, but is still missing the big picture.

1. The Sox should have paid off of the contract and gotten actual top prospects.

2. The Sox let Robert's value deteriorate to almost nothing by the time they traded him. His window was long before this spring.

Either way, it should have never been Bady vs Vientos vs Acuna.

I thought it would have been best to keep Robert. He's better than any outfielder they have now. If he would have had a good first half he could have been moved for more than what they received from the Mets. This trade for Acuna could turn out as bad as the Cease trade with the Padres.

On 1/20/2026 at 10:31 PM, WestEddy said:

"This" vs. nothing. I'll take it. 

It’s not this vs nothing. It’s this vs other options

3 minutes ago, Kyyle23 said:

It’s not this vs nothing. It’s this vs other options

Thanks for bringing this back and showing that WE was incorrect in his assumption. If anyone would know the inside details on this trade, it would be Jon Heyman. He is Boras’s mouthpiece and Boras is Robert’s agent.

It also shows that Acuna was not their first choice, which some people had previously thought.

Edited Thursday at 06:02 PM2 days by WhiteSox2023

34 minutes ago, Kyyle23 said:

It’s not this vs nothing. It’s this vs other options

There have been a ton of other options, including other times, other teams, and picking up money in any combination.

1 hour ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

Thanks for bringing this back and showing that WE was incorrect in his assumption. If anyone would know the inside details on this trade, it would be Jon Heyman. He is Boras’s mouthpiece and Boras is Robert’s agent.

It also shows that Acuna was not their first choice, which some people had previously thought.

What was my incorrect assumption? That Acuña was the first choice? His name was coming up last TDL along with Vientos, so I think he was being discussed. But sure, I'll wear that. Start out asking for Baty and McLean, then settle. I think Robert just had to go. It's 20/20 hindsight to say Getz had to move him in December of '23. Every trading period the Sox held on through lowered Robert's value. That wasn't "known" 12/23.

9 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

What was my incorrect assumption? That Acuña was the first choice? His name was coming up last TDL along with Vientos, so I think he was being discussed. But sure, I'll wear that. Start out asking for Baty and McLean, then settle. I think Robert just had to go. It's 20/20 hindsight to say Getz had to move him in December of '23. Every trading period the Sox held on through lowered Robert's value. That wasn't "known" 12/23.

So Chris Getz didn't think this was a baseball team that was a long way from contention in December 2023? Or did he know and decide to risk keeping Robert even though it was his first fully healthy season as a pro, knowing full well his health history was always a risk?

1 minute ago, southsider2k5 said:

So Chris Getz didn't think this was a baseball team that was a long way from contention in December 2023? Or did he know and decide to risk keeping Robert even though it was his first fully healthy season as a pro, knowing full well his health history was always a risk?

Are those the only options I'm allowed to think?

14 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

Are those the only options I'm allowed to think?

I mean you are allowed to make up whatever you like, but those are the realistic options if Getz is a real GM.

We now know it wasn’t literally Acuna or nothing, just like @Kyyle23 stated. Vientos was an option over Acuna.

I won’t guarantee this because I obviously have no proof but this would indicate that Getz more than likely had other trade offers for Robert as well since he took over as GM. I also wouldn’t be surprised if there was a better offer than Acuna and Pauley that Getz passed on. So if Getz knew he was starting another rebuild, why not trade Robert after his stellar 2023 season?

I guess it doesn’t really matter now.

Edited Thursday at 09:56 PM2 days by WhiteSox2023

2 minutes ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

We now know it wasn’t literally Acuna or nothing, just like @Kyyle23 stated. Vientos was an option over Acuna.

I won’t guarantee this because I obviously have no proof but this would indicate that Getz more than likely had other trade offers for Robert as well since he took over for GM. I also wouldn’t be surprised if there was a better offer than Acuna and Pauley that Getz passed on. Doesn’t really matter now.

I'm sure there were better offers that he passed on. I don't know if it's because the league wouldn't deal straight with Getz earlier in his tenure, or if Robert's reputation did it, but it always seemed like what was being reported was under what this board thought his value should be. Now, I don't know, maybe better GMs fwump their cock on the table, name 4 names and the other GM cries as their system is picked clean. Or maybe the offers were always underwhelming. Something like that team's Jacob Gonzalez and a ranked "stuff" dude who can't throw strikes.

I'm pretty sure nobody would have liked a Vientos return.

12 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

I'm sure there were better offers that he passed on. I don't know if it's because the league wouldn't deal straight with Getz earlier in his tenure, or if Robert's reputation did it, but it always seemed like what was being reported was under what this board thought his value should be. Now, I don't know, maybe better GMs fwump their cock on the table, name 4 names and the other GM cries as their system is picked clean. Or maybe the offers were always underwhelming. Something like that team's Jacob Gonzalez and a ranked "stuff" dude who can't throw strikes.

I'm pretty sure nobody would have liked a Vientos return.

Not with the current 2029-30 contention timeline lol.

We won't even get to enjoy Murakami for long at this rate.

One encouraging note is Acuna’s bat speed is way back up, and that’s not something that needs a large sample size. Didn’t know where else to post this.

I'll take Acuna over Vientos.

We can get Vientos in July anyway, when Getz trades Murakami....

I'm not an Acuna fan but I'm surprised people are like "OMG we could have gotten Vientos!". Guy is 26 with one solid season under his belt two years ago and is arbitration eligible next season. He'd be swapping CF Robert for 3B/1B Robert. At least Acuna is younger and can maybe possibly play CF.

13 hours ago, Lukakke Appling said:

One encouraging note is Acuna’s bat speed is way back up, and that’s not something that needs a large sample size. Didn’t know where else to post this.

If you're just looking at last years small MLB sample. His bat speed isn't much different than 2024 or his other measured amounts.

Luisangel's average swing speed this season is about the same as Luis Robert's. There's a lot more to hitting than getting the bat to move fast through the zone, but there are a lot of guys who can't swing it that hard. Tells you there's some power potential there...but he has some more work to do to get any kind of power production.

The other thing that stands out to me is Acuna has put up some very high in-zone contact rates and not too bad chase rates. He just really needs to loft the ball if he wants to be successful. Would probably be worth trading some of that contact tool if it means getting the ball in the air more. Edgar Quero has the same issue except Edgar has no bat speed.

On 4/2/2026 at 12:46 PM, WBWSF said:

I thought it would have been best to keep Robert. He's better than any outfielder they have now. If he would have had a good first half he could have been moved for more than what they received from the Mets. This trade for Acuna could turn out as bad as the Cease trade with the Padres.

No. They really needed to move on. The return is what it is.

On 4/2/2026 at 10:46 AM, WBWSF said:

I thought it would have been best to keep Robert. He's better than any outfielder they have now. If he would have had a good first half he could have been moved for more than what they received from the Mets. This trade for Acuna could turn out as bad as the Cease trade with the Padres.

I can’t say I have a strong feeling about how this turns out, but I’ was super willing to sacrifice Acuna in order to stick Robert back in CF, and roll the dice on a better deadline acquisition. A chance of missing out on Acuna is supposed to be a reason to rush this?

1 minute ago, Chick Mercedes said:

I can’t say I have a strong feeling about how this turns out, but I’ was super willing to sacrifice Acuna in order to stick Robert back in CF, and roll the dice on a better deadline acquisition. A chance of missing out on Acuna is supposed to be a reason to rush this?

Had to reallocate that money to Dominguez Hicks Newcomb Hays.

Edited yesterday at 01:39 AM1 day by caulfield12