Phillies' high-risk, high-reward trade for former White Sox All-Star still on table

With Major League Baseball's trade deadline right around the corner, Philadelphia Phillies fans are still waiting for their team's first move. With the two areas of focus being the bullpen and hopefully the outfield, there could be a few new faces in town by the time the 6:00 p.m. ET deadline passes on Thursday.

One of the names that has been linked with the Phillies in the last couple of years is Chicago White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr. As The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reports, the Phillies and Robert Jr. still look like a potential trade deadline match (subscription required), despite the former All-Star being sidelined recently with a minor injury.

"Chicago White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr. was not in the lineup for the second time in three games on Friday night due to a tight groin," Rosenthal writes. "But the expectation that he will be traded (Philadelphia? San Diego?) is rising.”

Luis Robert Jr. would be high-risk, high-reward trade for Phillies

The 27-year-old Robert has some immense talent with an impressive power/speed combination that he showed off in his career season in 2023 — he slashed .264/.315/.542 with 38 home runs, 80 RBIs, 90 runs scored and 20 stolen bases in 145 games. The downside is that he has not been able to stay healthy, and this year his performance has dropped off dramatically.

In 84 games this season, Robert is slashing .206/.293/.343 with 10 home runs and 26 stolen bases for the lowly White Sox. He has picked up the production recently however, posting a .341/.426/.585 line with three homers, 10 RBIs and four steals over his last 13 games. It's easy to think that his down year could be attributed to the fact that he’s stuck on a Chicago team seemingly going nowhere fast and this recent push could be his way of trying to get out of town in a trade.

Robert has missed three of the White Sox's last four games heading into Sunday’s action with a groin issue that the team described as adductor soreness that he felt while stealing a base in the ninth inning on July 23. The White Sox are obviously being cautious with the trade deadline looming. Whether this minor ailment would be enough to deter trade deadline suitors is a question that only those teams' front offices can answer.

The Phillies will likely be gun-shy about acquiring a player like Robert, even with his level of upside, based on their experience at last year‘s trade deadline. They traded for outfielder Austin Hays from the Baltimore Orioles, and despite being a player that president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski had coveted for a number of years before bringing him to Philadelphia. Hays was a disappointment after suffering a kidney infection that derailed his second half, and the Phillies never got to see him at full strength.

Robert is under team control for another two years with club options on his contract for 2026 and 2027. Despite the potential risk and the expensive prospect haul that a deal would cost, he could be a solution to the Phillies' punchless outfield attack while providing Gold Glove-caliber defense in center.

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