Luis Robert Jr. was the last man standing on the Chicago White Sox from the Blackout Game in the 2021 playoffs. He batted behind Tim Anderson in a solid lineup that also included José Abreu, Yasmani Grandal, Eloy Jiménez, Yoán Moncada, Gavin Sheets, Leury García and César Hernández and that to ok the field behind starter Dylan Cease in Game 3 of an American League Division Series against the Houston Astros. All of them are gone, and all that’s left is former manager Tony La Russa, still employed as a consultant to general manager Chris Getz thanks to his close friendship with Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf. Most of the players were traded, released or allowed to leave via free agency years ago. But Robert remained for one simple reason: His contract was too big to move without the Sox eating a good portion of it, and no team wanted to give up anything of value in return. So Getz swallowed hard and kept Robert around, through multiple trade deadlines and offseasons, insisting that the organization still valued him. Robert seemed OK with that, repeatedly saying he wanted to remain on a Sox team going through a long, hard rebuild. With SoxFest looming and spring training around the corner, it looked like another serving of the same, old narrative. Robert would be around until the July trade deadline, with the Sox hoping he would stay healthy and be productive enough to find a suitor. But Getz ended that story once and for all late Tuesday, dealing Robert to the New York Mets for a middling prospect in Luisangel Acuña and a prayer in former 12th-round pick Truman Pauley. It’s a win for the Sox, who shed Robert’s $20 million salary without having to eat any of it while hopefully opening a door for top prospect Braden Montgomery, who should get an opportunity to win an outfield spot in spring training or at least merit an early season call-up. It’s also a win for Robert, who can play for a contending team again and perhaps thrive in the background in a clubhouse full of stars such as Juan Soto, Francisco Lindor and Bo Bichette. Robert never was an alpha on the South Side, even though he was treated like one, speaking to the media only occasionally. But the biggest win is for Reinsdorf, whose opening-day roster projects to have a $49 million payroll, according to Cot’s Contracts — about $11 million less than the $60 million annual salary of Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Kyle Tucker. FanGraphs has the total Sox roster at $67 million, last in the majors and a startling $362 million below the Dodgers. The two teams share a spring training facility in Glendale, Ariz., so the haves and have-nots will be together again in a few weeks for side-by-side comparisons. While Tucker’s contract sent owners screaming once again for a salary cap — which Reinsdorf has been a proponent of since being an instrumental hawk in the owners ranks during the work stoppage of 1994 — the Sox’s minuscule payroll no doubt will send others screaming for a salary floor. White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf attends a ceremony to unveil a bronze statue of former pitcher Mark Buehrle along the right-field concourse at Rate Field on July 11, 2025. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) A lockout after 2026 seems inevitable, with neither side willing to budge. “The important distinction is that it would be a lockout, it wouldn’t be the players’ choice,” Chicago Cubs player rep Ian Happ said last week. “It would be ownership’s choice. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that because I think baseball has a ton of momentum.” The Sox had a ton of momentum in ’94 when the players strike ended their shot at the World Series. By the time they returned in ’95, that momentum was gone, and eventually the team was disbanded for another rebuild. Getz, naturally, said moving Robert gives the Sox a chance to spend. “We’ve got some financial flexibility now to continue to bring in talent,” he said Wednesday in a video conference with reporters. “Continue”? Other than Munetaka Murakami’s two-year, $34 million deal, the Sox have done nothing of significance on the free-agent market this offseason. But let’s take Getz at his word and be optimistic about him bringing in more “talent.” Framber Valdez? Eugenio Suárez? Those are the top remaining free agents, but that would be a stretch. Think more along the lines of Tommy Pham, Manuel Margot or Rowdy Tellez, free agents desperate to get a major-league contract anywhere before spring training begins. Or maybe Getz has an ace up his sleeve. Director of player personnel Gene Watson told fans at last year’s SoxFest this was “the best front office” in baseball. He was promptly booed. Will Watson try that again next week at the Ramova Theatre? We’ll see. Wednesday marked the end of the Rick Hahn rebuild that looked so promising in 2021, only to crash and burn by the summer of ’22. When Hahn signed Robert out of Cuba in May 2017, giving the 19-year-old a $26 million contract, it was lauded by many, including me, as one of the most important signings in Sox history. “Don’t spend all your money in one place,” Reinsdorf told Robert on the field at Sox Park after the signing became official. Related Articles Chicago White Sox trade CF Luis Robert Jr. to New York Mets for INF Luisangel Acuña and RHP Truman Pauley Center fielders Andruw Jones and Carlos Beltrán are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame ‘Unassuming star’: Steve Stone and Jim Kaat reflect on former Chicago White Sox teammate Wilbur Wood Wilbur Wood, the workhorse Chicago White Sox knuckleballer who had 4 straight 20-win seasons, dies at 84 Chicago White Sox progress report: Taking a closer look at some offseason additions — and areas to address The Sox coaxed Robert with a virtual-reality video that allowed him to don VR goggles and see himself in the clubhouse and on the field during live action and to hear public-address announcer Gene Honda announce his name. He would become the centerpiece of the rebuild that was already underway with Moncada, Lucas Giolito, Michael Kopech and other top prospects coming up. Less than three years later, without playing a major-league game, Robert signed a six-year, $50 million deal with a couple of options that increased its potential value to $88 million through 2027. Appropriately, he wore No. 88. When Robert became an All-Star in 2023, no one could’ve guessed that the contract would be an albatross by ’24 or that the Sox would dump him for a midlevel prospect and a 12th-rounder. Acuña might be an underrated gem — or just an average player. The Sox will be happy if he stays healthy and learns to hit at the major-league level. Pauley is a throw-in whose Harvard education suggests he will be OK even if his baseball career doesn’t pan out. He probably doesn’t need Reinsdorf to tell him not to spend all his money in one place. In the end, Getz made sure the Sox would begin the ’26 season with a clean slate. No more distractions of being asked how long Robert would remain in a Sox uniform. “We can just go out there as a team and focus on getting better and winning baseball games,” he said. Time for something completely different? Sounds like a plan ...read more read less