The post White Sox pick up Luis Robert Jr.’s option for 2026 appeared first on Sox On 35th.
To little surprise, the White Sox will be retaining their centerfielder.
According to ESPN’s Jesse Rogers, the team has officially picked up Luis Robert Jr.‘s club option for the 2026 season. This means Robert will now make $20 million in the new year, rather than receive a $2-million buyout and enter free agency.
It’s been a tough few seasons for Robert Jr. that led up to this decision. After posting a 129 wRC+ and 38 home runs in 2023, the once-promising player hasn’t found that level of success over the past two years. He’s played 100 and 110 games respectively in 2024 and 2025 while posting an 84 wRC+ in both seasons. However, before his second half was cut short due to a Grade 2 left hamstring strain, it looked as though the centerfielder was experiencing a return to form, hitting .298/.352/.456 with a 126 wRC+ across 125 plate appearances.
Despite this semi-bounce back, frustrations have continued to mount within the White Sox’s fan base about both the health and quality of play, which originally led to calls to trade him at the deadline or even not pick up his option for the 2026 season.
But, at the end of the day, the best version of the 2026 White Sox has Luis Robert Jr. on it – at least to begin the season. His $20-million salary in 2026 represents just a $5-million increase over his 2025 salary, so from that perspective, it makes a lot of sense for the White Sox to bring back Robert Jr. in the near term.
At the same time, he does still have one more $20-million option year remaining on his contract for 2027, so should Robert Jr. look more like his old self to start the year, the White Sox may once again entertain trading him at the deadline if the current rebuild trajectory has not sped up significantly by that time.
This is just one of many decisions expected in the coming days for the White Sox – including decisions made about their coaching staff – so stay tuned for further updates.
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Featured Photo: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
The post White Sox pick up Luis Robert Jr.’s option for 2026 appeared first on Sox On 35th.