The long-awaited Luis Robert Jr. trade has arrived. The Mets announced they’ve acquired the former All-Star center fielder from the White Sox for young infielder/outfielder Luisangel Acuña and minor league right-hander Truman Pauley. There’s no cash involved and no corresponding moves because Robert and Acuña were each on the 40-man roster.
This brings an end to what had been years of Robert trade rumors. The White Sox have held their center fielder through multiple rebuilding seasons. In retrospect, they surely wish they’d moved him over the 2023-24 offseason. Robert was coming off a career year and looked like a budding star entering the prime of his career. The past two seasons have been more challenging, as he has battled injuries and struggled while fielding questions about when he would be traded.
Robert was a high-profile prospect when he signed with the Sox out of Cuba in 2017. He commanded a $26MM bonus, the kind of hefty sum for an international amateur that would subsequently be prohibited in the collective bargaining agreement. Robert’s dominant minor league performance further spurred optimism, and the White Sox signed him to a $50MM extension over the 2019-20 offseason. At the time, it was the largest extension for a player who had to make his MLB debut, and it ensured he’d break camp in 2020 without any kind of service time games.
While that year’s schedule would be shortened by the pandemic, Robert popped 11 homers and won a Gold Glove in center field. He placed second in Rookie of the Year balloting. Robert’s numbers jumped in year two, as he hit .338/.378/.567 across 296 plate appearances. A torn flexor tendon in his right hip cost him three months, however, and the blend of tantalizing talent and frustrating durability would be a recurring theme in his career.
Robert had a trio of injured list stints, albeit all for minor issues, the following season. He stayed healthy for almost all of the ’23 campaign and showed the star-level ceiling he possesses at full strength. Robert drilled 38 homers, 36 doubles and one triple across 595 plate appearances. He hit .264/.315/.542 to win a Silver Slugger Award. FanGraphs and Baseball Reference each valued his season around five wins above replacement after accounting for his excellent center field defense.
The White Sox nevertheless went 61-101 and were outscored by 200 runs. It was clear they were amidst a multi-year teardown, but they elected to hang onto Robert when they had four years of affordable contractual control. They could have netted multiple top prospects if they’d shopped him.
Robert’s production has tanked as the team has slogged through two more terrible seasons. He’s a .223/.288/.372 hitter in 856 plate appearances since the start of 2024. He has struck out at a near-30% rate while continuing to battle injuries. The right hip flared up early in the ’24 season and kept him out for two months. A pair of left hamstring strains were the culprit last summer, with the latter costing him all of September.
The physical tools remain encouraging. Robert is one of the fastest players in the league despite the various lower body injuries. He ranks in the 92nd percentile in bat speed, according to Statcast. He’s an aggressive hitter who is always going to have his share of strikeouts. Teams would happily live with a lower on-base percentage if he’s making the kind of power and defensive impact he did during his best days in Chicago.
It’s largely a change-of-scenery bet from the Mets’ perspective. Robert only turned 28 in August and hasn’t shown signs of physical decline. He has spent the past three seasons on one of the worst teams in MLB, fully aware that he’d be traded at some point. A new environment could help him get back on track, although the durability concerns will persist even if his numbers improve.
Robert will at least upgrade the defense and bring some upside on the bases. He has stolen 20+ bags in three straight seasons and went 33-41 in stolen base attempts last year. He should also bring some juice against left-handed pitching, as he’s a career .293/.367/.505 hitter with the platoon advantage. His production against southpaws tanked in 2024 but rebounded last season.
The biggest risk for the Mets is financial. They’re assuming the entirety of Robert’s $20MM salary and committing to a $2MM buyout on a $20MM club option for the 2027 season. It’s not a small amount to spend on a player who hasn’t produced much over the past two years, and that’s before considering the tax implications.
The Mets pay a 110% tax on spending as a three-time repeat luxury tax payor whose CBT payroll is above $304MM. Robert is guaranteed $22MM for one season — the option buyout is guaranteed money — so they’re tagged with a $24.2MM tax hit. It’s a $46.2MM commitment overall, albeit one that comes with the upside of what could be a bargain option in ’27 if Robert hits his ceiling. RosterResource calculate their CBT number around $357MM, putting them on track to exceed last year’s season-ending $347MM mark — which required a $91.6MM tax payment. There’s a good chance they’ll have a tax bill north of $100MM by the end of the ’26 season.
They’ve taken on $64MM in AAV commitments for the 2026 season between the Robert trade and Bo Bichette signing over the past five days. The Mets haven’t wanted to lock themselves into lengthy deals one offseason after the Juan Soto signing. They’ve compensated with significant short-term investments to chase upside. Robert should be the everyday center fielder as long as he’s healthy. That’d push Tyrone Taylor either into a fourth outfield role or as a stopgap in left field if prospects Carson Benge and Jett Williams open the season in Triple-A. It seems likely to take them out of the running on Cody Bellinger, the top unsigned position player.
Although the White Sox missed their opportunity to trade Robert at the apex of his value, they deserve some credit for exercising this year’s option rather than cutting him loose for nothing in free agency. That at least netted them an intriguing depth piece in Acuña, who felt superfluous on the Mets but is a fine target for a rebuilding team.
The younger brother of Ronald Acuña Jr., Luisangel is a former Rangers signee whom the Mets acquired in the 2023 Max Scherzer deadline deal. His bloodlines and previous inclusion in one marquee trade have made him a more well-known prospect than his production probably warrants, but he’s not yet 24 and provides some multi-positional utility for skipper Will Venable.
Acuña signed as a shortstop and has the arm strength to profile on the left side of the infield. There weren’t many shortstop reps available on a team with Francisco Lindor, leading the Mets to bounce him around in a utility capacity. Acuña has plus-plus speed and could be an option in center field as well. He’s splitting his time between shortstop and center field in the Venezuelan winter league, but the majority of his MLB experience has come as a second baseman.
The White Sox shouldn’t have any issue getting Acuña in the lineup even if he’s not expected to push Colson Montgomery off shortstop. He could step into the everyday center field role vacated by the Robert trade or push for second/third base playing time alongside Chase Meidroth, Miguel Vargas and Lenyn Sosa.
The question is whether Acuña will bring enough to the table offensively to warrant playing time once the Sox are better positioned to contend. He’s a .248/.299/.341 hitter in his first 233 MLB plate appearances. Acuña has had a similarly light bat against Triple-A pitching. The right-handed hitter owns a .265/.307/.360 line in more than 700 trips to the plate at the top minor league level. Acuña has solid contact skills but puts a lot of balls on the ground without big exit velocities. He’s a slash-and-dash type hitter whose best current ability is as a runner, where he went 16-17 in stolen base tries over 95 MLB games last year.
Acuña is out of minor league options, so the White Sox will need to keep him on the MLB roster. They wouldn’t have traded Robert for him if they didn’t intend to do so. The lack of roster flexibility was a much bigger hangup for the Mets, who also cannot option Mark Vientos and are unlikely to send Brett Baty back to Triple-A. They knew they’d lose Acuña on waivers but weren’t positioned to offer him the playing time to take a step forward offensively. Chicago can control him through the 2031 season, as Acuña has yet to reach a year of MLB service.
The White Sox also add a low minors arm in Pauley, a 6’2″ righty whom the Mets took in the 12th round of last year’s draft. The Harvard product received an above-slot $400K signing bonus. Baseball America ranked him the #435 prospect in the draft, writing in June that teams like the riding life on his mid-90s fastball and plus spin rates on his breaking ball. Pauley walked more than 15% of opponents with a 4.61 ERA in his draft year. His command will need to take a significant leap if he’s to get to the majors, even as a reliever, but the Sox’s player development team is clearly intrigued by his raw stuff.
From a payroll standpoint, dealing Robert drops Chicago’s projected spending to $67MM. They opened last season around $81MM, so this could free them up for a late-offseason depth addition or two. The Sox could bring in a veteran middle reliever and/or a fourth outfielder whom they’d try to flip for another lottery ticket prospect in the Pauley mold at the deadline.
Jeff Passan of ESPN was first on the trade terms. Jon Heyman of The New York Post reported that the Mets were assuming the full salary. Respective images courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski, Jay Biggerstaff of Imagn Images.
The White Sox and right-hander Seranthony Domínguez are in agreement on a two-year, $20MM deal, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. Passan adds that the Epitome Sports Management is expected to be the closer for the Sox. Chicago has a full 40-man roster and will need a corresponding move to make this official.
Domínguez, 31, has mostly been an effective setup guy in his career. He debuted with the Phillies in 2018 and tossed 58 innings with a 2.95 earned run average. His 9.5% walk rate was a bit high but he struck out 32% of batters faced while inducing grounders on 55.7% of balls in play.
He missed most of the next three seasons due to injury, including a Tommy John surgery in 2020. Over the past four years, he has been back on track and his production has had a somewhat similar shape to his 2018 season. He has thrown at least 50 innings in each of those four campaigns. Put together, he tossed 222 1/3 innings for the Phillies, Orioles and Blue Jays with a combined ERA of 3.60, a 27% strikeout rate, 10.7% walk rate and 41.9% ground ball rate. He racked up 24 saves and 55 holds.
In 2025, he changed up his arsenal. He still featured a four-seamer and sinker in the upper 90s with a sweeper as one of his breaking balls, but he switched out his changeup and slider for a splitter and a curveball. That led to a career-high walk rate of 13.8% but his 30.3% strikeout rate was his best in a full season since his rookie debut. He became one of the top setup guys in Toronto’s bullpen, making 12 postseason appearances as part of that club’s run to the World Series. He had a 3.18 ERA in those, though with more walks than strikeouts.
It’s a bit of a volatile profile but the stuff is tantalizing and his results have mostly been good. Coming into the winter, there was a clear top tier of free agent closers which included Edwin Díaz, Devin Williams and Robert Suarez. Domínguez was in the next tier of solid setup guys, including Tyler Rogers, Luke Weaver, Brad Keller and others. MLBTR predicted Domínguez for a two-year deal worth $18MM and he has come in just a hair above that.
Domínguez was connected to clubs like the Red Sox and Twins in reported rumors but presumably had interest from other clubs as well. The White Sox are an interesting landing spot for him. The club is clearly in rebuild mode, having just finished their third straight 100-loss season. However, a few of their prospects had nice breakout seasons in 2025, including Colson Montgomery and Kyle Teel.
The Sox have responded with a somewhat active offseason. They bolstered their rotation by giving Anthony Kay $12MM over two years and Sean Newcomb $4.5MM on a one-year deal. Munetaka Murakami seemingly fell into their laps when no one else wanted to give him a long-term deal, so they signed him for $34MM over two years.
They did subtract Luis Robert Jr. this week, trading him to the Mets for Luisangel Acuña and pitching prospect Truman Pauley, but general manager Chris Getz said that the money saved from that deal would be reinvested in the team. Robert was set to make a $20MM salary this year, with a $2MM buyout on his $20MM option for 2027. Assuming the Domínguez deal is equally spread out across the two seasons, then he’ll be taking half of the money that was slated for Robert’s salary in 2026.
No one is likely to pick the White Sox to win the Central this year but the club is at least trying to make the roster more respectable, which is commendable. Perhaps there’s a scenario where things go especially well and they hover in the race for a few months. If not, all of their pickups have been for one or two years, keeping the long-term payroll wide open for whenever they do return to contention. Of the signees, anyone who plays well could be on the trade block this summer if the Sox are behind the pack.
For Domínguez, it’s possible he may have preferred a more surefire contender but landing in Chicago gives him a chance to close. As mentioned earlier, he has picked up a few saves in his career but has mostly been a setup guy. If he fares well in the ninth-inning job, perhaps that will help him land with a contender via trade and it could help his earning power when he returns to the open market two years from now.
He immediately becomes easily the most experienced arm in the bullpen. Newcomb, who will have a chance to earn a rotation job, is the only other pitcher on the roster with even three years of big league service time.
Last year, eight different pitchers recorded a save for the Sox. Jordan Leasure led the pack with seven, followed by Grant Taylor with six. Those two both have live arms but are still pretty inexperienced. They can work setup roles with Domínguez in the ninth. If the younger guys take a step forward or Domínguez ends up traded, then the roles could change over the course of a long season. It’s also possible the Sox make another move if Getz still has some powder dry.
With Domínguez now off the board, the relief market gets a bit more barren. Díaz, Suarez, Williams, Rogers, Weaver, Keller, Ryan Helsley, Emilio Pagán, Kyle Finnegan, Raisel Iglesias, Phil Maton, Pete Fairbanks, Kenley Jansen, Gregory Soto and others have all come off the board. The group of guys still available includes Danny Coulombe, Justin Wilson, Andrew Chafin, Evan Phillips, Scott Barlow and more.
Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro, Mitch Stringer, Imagn Images
Yet another offseason of hyperaggressive spending and mind-boggling CBT payrolls from the Dodgers and Mets (and, this winter, the Blue Jays) has led to increased talk of competitive balance ahead of the impending conclusion of the 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement. Owners are again expected to push for a salary cap -- though that's a perpetual goal and would absolutely have been the case regardless of how the usual suspects spent in free agency this winter -- and they'll have plenty of fan support in that regard.
Fans, particularly those of small market teams, feel a clear sense of defeatism, knowing their clubs will rarely (or in some cases never) be players for the top names in free agency. The Dodgers were close enough to losing in the World Series that it's not fair to say they can freely buy themselves a championship -- the Mets spent more in 2025 and missed the postseason entirely -- but it's fair to say they're spending enough to give themselves something like a 95% chance of making the postseason and entering as the favorite.
The other side of the cap argument, of course, is that it would assuredly usher in the implementation of a salary floor -- a level at which teams must spend on payroll or else be subject to some degree of penalization. There's already a weak "floor" in place for revenue-sharing clubs, but it seems to lack any semblance of teeth. The A's felt compelled to spend enough to push their CBT payroll up to $105MM last year -- roughly 1.5 times the amount they receive annually from revenue-sharing -- but that was seemingly because they're the only club to have been actually stripped of revenue-sharing status in the past. The Marlins were supposedly in the same boat this winter, and they've thumbed their nose at the idea of spending, as evidenced by a CBT payroll in the $80MM range.
I can see the arguments for a cap/floor system. I'm skeptical that it would actually force the game's lowest-payroll clubs to spend in meaningful ways, but that's another topic -- and one that we'll surely debate ad nauseum in the year to come as CBA talks intensify.
But whether it's a salary floor, firm penalties for not spending revenue-sharing funds in tangible ways, or greater access to draft/international resources for non-playoff clubs who remain competitive, something has to give. Right now, there's at least one entire division content to sit on its hands as the five respective front offices seemingly embody that same level of defeatism felt by their small- and mid-market fan bases.
If the Dodgers are a budding dynasty, it's unequivocally fair to say that's in part because of their limitless spending capacity. But it's also because there are teams seemingly content to throw their hands up and ask, "why even bother?" At a certain point, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy -- and I'd argue that at least with regard to the AL Central, we've reached that point. Let's look at each AL Central club's offseason to date.
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Veteran reliever David Robertson has decided to hang up his spikes. He announced the decision on his personal social media pages, issuing the following statement:
“I’ve decided it’s time for me to hang up my spikes and retire from the game I’ve loved for as long as I can remember. Baseball has given me more than I ever dreamed possible over the last 19 seasons. From winning a World Series, to pitching in an All-Star game, to representing the United States and bringing home a World Baseball Classic Gold and Olympic silver. I’ve had the privilege of playing alongside amazing teammates, learning from outstanding coaches, and being welcomed into organizations that felt like family. To the trainers, clubhouse staff, front offices, and everyone behind the scenes, thank you for all that you do. And to the fans who supported me, thank you, your passion fueled me every single day.
Most importantly, thank you to my wife and children. Your love, sacrifice, patience, and dedication made this career possible. As I step away from the game, I’m excited to be home with my family, to focus on our farms, and to continue growing High Socks for Hope. Helping families rebuild after disaster has been one of the most rewarding parts of my life outside baseball.
Saying goodbye isn’t easy, but I do so with deep gratitude for every opportunity, challenge, and memory. I’ll forever be thankful for the game and for everyone who made this journey extraordinary.”
Robertson retires after a two-decade run in professional baseball. He signed an overslot deal as a 17th-round pick of the Yankees in 2006. He was in the big leagues two years later. He began his career in middle relief but impressed with a 3.30 earned run average across 45 appearances in his first full season. Robertson added 5 1/3 scoreless innings and earned a pair of wins as the Yankees went on to win the World Series in 2009.
By the following season, the righty was a fixture in the Yankee bullpen in front of Mariano Rivera. He was exceptionally durable and consistently effective. Robertson reeled off a streak of 10 straight sub-4.00 ERA seasons between 2009-18. He surpassed 60 innings in the final nine of those years.
His most accomplished statistical season came in 2011, when he fired 66 2/3 frames with a career-low 1.08 ERA. Robertson picked up 34 holds against three blown leads. He earned his first and, somewhat surprisingly, only All-Star selection while receiving down-ballot Cy Young and MVP votes. He recorded a personal-best 100 strikeouts. He trailed only Craig Kimbrel and Tyler Clippard among relievers in punchouts, while Atlanta’s Eric O’Flaherty was the only pitcher with a lower earned run average.
Robertson remained in a setup role until Rivera ended his Hall of Fame career after the 2013 season. Robertson, an impending free agent, stepped seamlessly into the closer role. He recorded 39 saves with a 3.08 ERA in his walk year. He hit free agency at age 30 and rejected a qualifying offer before landing a four-year, $46MM deal from the White Sox.
He held up his end of the bargain, topping 30 saves in his two full seasons in Chicago. The Sox weren’t good overall, however, and they embarked on a teardown by 2017. They shipped Robertson back to the Bronx alongside Todd Frazier and Tommy Kahnle. Robertson played out the final season and a half of the contract and helped New York back to the postseason in both years. He was part of the 2017 national team that won the World Baseball Classic, tossing a scoreless inning to close an 8-0 win over Puerto Rico in the final.
A return trip to free agency was never going to be as lucrative as he entered his age-34 season. He signed a two-year, $23MM deal with the Phillies. That was a precursor to the first real setback of his entire career. Robertson’s elbow gave out seven appearances into his first season in Philadelphia. He missed most of the year rehabbing before it was revealed that he needed Tommy John surgery. Robertson lost all of 2020 and most of ’21 before making a comeback with the U.S. National Team at the Tokyo Olympics (which were held in ’21 because of the pandemic).
Robertson carved out an impressive final act after the surgery. He bounced around as a setup man, mostly on contending clubs. Robertson made the playoffs with the Rays in ’21 and returned to the World Series the following year. A $3.5MM free agent deal with the Cubs led to a midseason trade back to Philadelphia, and he wound up tossing 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball in October for the pennant winning Phils. Robertson split the ’23 season between the Mets and Marlins — Miami was a deadline buyer who snuck into the playoffs — and remained an excellent leverage arm with the Rangers in 2024. He worked a career-high 72 innings of 3.00 ERA ball with 99 punchouts for Texas in what would be his final full season in the big leagues.
Despite his continued strong performance, Robertson didn’t find the contract he was seeking last offseason. He waited until July before signing a one-year deal for his third stint with the Phillies. Robertson made 20 regular season appearances and one final playoff outing in the Division Series loss to the Dodgers.
Robertson finishes his playing days with a 2.93 ERA in just shy of 900 regular season innings. Only Kenley Jansen has pitched in more games than his 881 going back to his debut. Robertson recorded nearly 1200 strikeouts. He saved 179 games and recorded 206 holds, ranking top 20 in both stats over his career. He had a 2.88 ERA in his first 10-year peak and came back from elbow surgery to add 230 2/3 frames of 3.00 ERA ball with a 31% strikeout rate from ages 36-40.
It’s a remarkable run of consistency at a position that is generally viewed as the sport’s most volatile. Robertson only had four seasons in which he allowed more than four earned runs per nine: his first and last years and the ’19 and ’21 campaigns that were shortened by the one significant injury he incurred. That’s all before considering his postseason résumé — 47 2/3 innings of 3.47 ERA ball in 10 different trips to October.
Robertson spent the majority of his career in the Bronx. He’ll be best remembered as a Yankee but appeared for eight clubs overall. Although he’s not going to get much consideration for induction into Cooperstown, he’s a lock to appear on the Hall of Fame ballot five years from now and could see his name checked by a few voters who want to honor his longevity and reliability. MLBTR congratulates him on an excellent career and sends our best wishes in whatever comes next.
Image courtesy of Thomas Shea, USA Today Sports.
9:46AM: Hays will earn $5MM in salary in 2026, and there is a $1MM buyout on a mutual option for 2027, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal writes. Another $375K is available for Hays in incentive bonuses based around plate appearances.
8:42AM: The White Sox have agreed to a deal with outfielder Austin Hays, ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reports. The one-year deal will pay Hays $6MM, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, and the contract will be official following a physical. Chicago’s 40-man roster is full, so the team will also have to make a corresponding transaction before the signing is finalized. Hays is represented by the MAS+ Agency.
Earlier today, Heyman reported that Hays was “said to be deciding this weekend” about his next landing spot. Heyman listed the White Sox, Cubs, Padres, Tigers, and Rangers as teams who had showed some level of interest in Hays at some point during the offseason. These five clubs were new to Hays’ market, as previous reports this winter linked the Royals, Reds, Mets, Yankees, and Cardinals to the 30-year-old outfielder. The Athletic’s Zack Meisel also wrote that the Guardians “put out feelers on” Hays’ services.
Playing time was an apparent priority for Hays, as Meisel wrote that the outfielder was looking for “a situation in which he could play every day.” That didn’t come in Cleveland since the Guardians didn’t want to block any of its up-and-coming younger outfielders, but Hays will now land with another AL Central team that has plenty of at-bats on offer. Hays figures to step right into at least semi-regular duty in right field, and he might also get time in his regular left field position depending on how the White Sox approach Andrew Benintendi’s playing time. Brooks Baldwin, Derek Hill, Tristan Peters, Everson Pereira, and Jarred Kelenic are among the names in Chicago’s outfield mix, plus Luisangel Acuna is likely to get a lot of time in center field.
Hays has held his own defensively over 483 career MLB innings as a center fielder, though he hasn’t played the position since 2023. With both glovework and health in mind, Hays is probably better suited for a corner outfield slot, and some DH at-bats are probably also a consideration for a player who has taken six separate trips to the injured list over the last two seasons. Four of those six IL stints were due to left calf and hamstring strains, and Hays also missed a few weeks last season due to a left foot contusion.
It was almost exactly one year ago that the Reds signed Hays to a one-year, $5MM guarantee, which broke down as $4MM in salary and a $1MM buyout of a $12MM mutual option for the 2026 season. As with virtually all mutual options, Hays was cut loose following the 2025 campaign, though he had a respectable .266/.315/.453 slash line and 15 homers over 416 plate appearances for Cincinnati.
On a team that struggled to generate consistent offense, Hays’ 105 wRC+ was the third-highest of any Reds player who had at least 111 trips to the plate. Though Hays was again hampered by injuries, it was least a step upwards from the uncertainty of the kidney infection that plagued him for much of the 2024 campaign, and cratered his numbers altogether after a deadline trade to the Phillies.
Since Opening Day 2021, Hays has a 106 wRC+ over 2348 PA, and he played in basically an everyday role with the Orioles from 2021-23. Despite the decent production, Hays has never walked much or made a lot of hard contact, and his strikeout rates have shot upwards over the last three seasons. Hays’ viability for an everyday role will probably hinge on how much he can hit right-handed pitching, as his splits have made him look like most of a lefty-masher in recent years.
The Reds hung onto Hays last summer both because they needed him for their own playoff push and probably in part because his injuries hurt his trade market, but it certainly seems possible the Sox could shop Hays at the upcoming deadline. The focus remains on the future for the rebuilding White Sox, and plenty of teams would figure to have trade interest in a veteran bat who has a 160 wRC+ against left-handed pitching over the last two seasons.
The Hays signing is the latest intriguing move for a White Sox team that is planning to be more competitive in 2026, even if a full-fledged run at a playoff berth remains at least a year away. Trading Luis Robert Jr. to the Mets freed up $20MM in payroll space, and the Sox reinvested that money into a two-year, $20MM deal for Seranthony Dominguez to become Chicago’s next closer.
Since Dominguez is only getting $8MM of that money in 2026, the White Sox have now been able to sign Hays and ostensibly still have $6MM more to spend from the $20MM hole Robert left in the team’s budget. A pitching addition may be more likely than another position-player add given Chicago’s needs in the rotation and bullpen.
Inset photograph courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas — Imagn Images
