All of them are gone, and all that\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
But Getz ended that story once and for all late Tuesday, dealing Robert to the New York Mets for a middling prospect in Luisangel Acu\u00f1a and a prayer in former 12th-round pick Truman Pauley.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a win for the Sox, who shed Robert\u2019s $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.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s 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<\/a>. Robert never was an alpha on the South Side, even though he was treated like one, speaking to the media only occasionally.<\/p>\n But the biggest win is for Reinsdorf, whose opening-day roster projects to have a $49 million payroll, according to Cot\u2019s Contracts<\/a> \u2014 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<\/a>, last in the majors and a startling $362 million below the Dodgers.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n While Tucker\u2019s contract<\/a> sent owners screaming once again for a salary cap \u2014 which Reinsdorf has been a proponent of since being an instrumental hawk in the owners ranks during the work stoppage of 1994 \u2014 the Sox\u2019s minuscule payroll no doubt will send others screaming for a salary floor.<\/p>\n A lockout after 2026 seems inevitable, with neither side willing to budge<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe important distinction is that it would be a lockout, it wouldn\u2019t be the players\u2019 choice,\u201d Chicago Cubs player rep Ian Happ said last week. \u201cIt would be ownership\u2019s choice. Hopefully it doesn\u2019t come to that because I think baseball has a ton of momentum.\u201d<\/p>\n The Sox had a ton of momentum in \u201994 when the players strike ended their shot at the World Series. By the time they returned in \u201995, that momentum was gone, and eventually the team was disbanded for another rebuild.<\/p>\n Getz, naturally, said moving Robert gives the Sox a chance to spend.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got some financial flexibility now to continue to bring in talent,\u201d he said Wednesday in a video conference with reporters.<\/p>\n \u201cContinue\u201d? Other than Munetaka Murakami\u2019s two-year, $34 million deal<\/a>, the Sox have done nothing of significance on the free-agent market this offseason.<\/p>\n But let\u2019s take Getz at his word and be optimistic about him bringing in more \u201ctalent.\u201d<\/p>\n Framber Valdez? Eugenio Su\u00e1rez?<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Or maybe Getz has an ace up his sleeve. Director of player personnel Gene Watson told fans at last year\u2019s SoxFest this was \u201cthe best front office\u201d in baseball. He was promptly booed.<\/a> Will Watson try that again next week at the Ramova Theatre<\/a>? We\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n Wednesday marked the end of the Rick Hahn rebuild that looked so promising in 2021, only to crash and burn by the summer of \u201922.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t spend all your money in one place,\u201d Reinsdorf told Robert on the field at Sox Park after the signing became official<\/a>.<\/p>\n 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<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n![\"White](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CTC-L-sox-guardians-game-one-077.jpg\")
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)<\/p>\n