Potential White Sox trade chip making progress in return from injury

Luis Robert Jr. began a minor league rehab assignment this week with two games in the Arizona Complex League, and the outfielder will soon be headed to Triple-A Charlotte, White Sox manager Pedro Grifol told MLB.com and other media.  

“He’ll have that minor league day off on Monday, get a workout in and then he’ll start playing his Charlotte games on Tuesday,” Grifol said.  “We’ll see after that.  I think probably by the middle of next week or something like that, he’ll be cleared with his leg, and then it becomes [at-bats] and timing and stuff like that.”

While there’s still some fluidity within this timeline, it does seem like Robert is perhaps a week or so away from returning to Chicago’s lineup.  Robert suffered a Grade 2 hip flexor strain in the first week of April, and given his past history of hip injuries, there was an initial concern that Robert could be facing an extended layoff — another flexor strain cost Robert almost three months of the 2021 season.  However, this latest injury ended up being less serious, and Robert appears to be on pace with the six-week recovery timeline that GM Chris Getz floated in mid-April.

Injuries have been a dominant theme of Robert’s MLB career, but the outfielder’s star potential has been evident whenever he has been able to take the field.  Robert hit .264/.315/.542 with 38 homers and 20 steals over a career-high 595 plate appearances and 145 games last season, finally staying healthy long enough to deliver a top-quality season.  Between his offensive production and solid defense, Robert generated 4.9 fWAR in 2023, a number topped by only 16 position players in all of baseball.

Assuming that Robert returns soon and continues this good form, more trade rumors will inevitably surface as the deadline approaches.  As per the terms of the contract extension he signed with the Sox prior to his MLB debut, Robert is owed roughly $8.6M for the remainder of this season, $15M in 2025, and then the White Sox have club options on his services for both 2026 and 2027 (each worth $20M with a $2M buyout).

The rebuilding Sox have no bigger trade chip than Robert, but Getz didn’t sound too motivated to move Robert when asked about his availability last offseason.  In comments to Kyle Williams of the Chicago Sun-Times and other reporters Friday, Getz again signaled that the White Sox are generally open for business on everyone, but “some players on the team that I think make a little more sense than others” to be dealt by the deadline.

“We’re open on players on our club just because we know we’ve got to make strides to get back to being a competitive team here in the AL Central,” Getz said.  “We’ve got our pro scouts monitoring other clubs’ prospects closely….The minor leagues are the strongest avenue to improve your major league club.  We are excited about what we are building at the minor league level, and we are going to look for opportunities to add to our group.  We look forward to July and the opportunity to insert more talent into our group.”

Getz will surely be looking for a premium return in any Robert trade, which could impact the outfielder’s chances of being moved at the deadline or perhaps in the offseason.  If questions about Robert’s health persist among potential suitors, Getz could hang onto Robert in the hopes that two more healthy and productive months throughout the remainder of the 2024 campaign would help clear any doubts about his readiness.  Waiting until the winter could also open up Robert’s trade market to more teams, even though his added years of contractual control means that his deadline market wouldn’t necessarily be limited just to this season’s contenders.

Even if the White Sox don’t pull the trigger on swapping Robert, there are plenty of other players up and down the roster who might get traded by the July 30 deadline in a variety of big and little deals.  A veteran rental reliever like Dominic Leone could be a natural candidate to be moved in a low-level transaction, yet Leone’s trade value is pretty minimal right now after another trip to the injured list.

Chicago placed Leone on the 15-day IL Friday (with a retroactive placement date of May 21) due to inflammation in his throwing elbow.  That placement came almost immediately after another 15-day IL stint due to back tightness, and Leone made just one in-game appearance in between those two stops on the injured list.  Grifol expressed hope that Leone would again be able to return after just the minimum 15 days, as “everything came back clean and clear” on Leone’s elbow after testing.

Beyond just the injury problems, Leone also has a 7.04 ERA over 15 1/3 innings.  His career-long troubles with the home run ball have again surfaced, as the right-hander has allowed four homers over his 15 1/3 frames, as well as an ungainly 15.7% walk rate.  It thus far hasn’t been remotely the bounce-back Leone was hoping for after he joined the White Sox on a minor league deal this past winter, coming off a 4.67 ERA in 54 combined innings with the Mets, Angels and Mariners in 2023.

The White Sox called up righty Justin Anderson from Triple-A as the corresponding move for Leone Friday, and brought another familiar face back to the active roster today when third baseman Bryan Ramos was reinstated from the 10-day IL.  Outfielder Zach DeLoach was optioned to Triple-A to create roster space for Ramos, who will miss just a minimum amount of time after being sidelined with a left quad strain.

Before the injury, Ramos hit .281/.294/.344 over the first 34 plate appearances of his big league career.  Ramos was receiving everyday work at third base and should resume that role upon his return, as the White Sox seem eager to explore his potential as a possible third baseman of the future.  The Sox promoted Ramos to the big league straight from Double-A, and Ramos hadn’t received any Triple-A playing time until two games with Charlotte during his just-completed minor league rehab assignment.