Per Jeff Passan of ESPN, the Seattle Mariners are a team to watch if the White Sox end up trading star outfielder Luis Robert Jr. at the upcoming trade deadline. Passan recently spoke on Seattle sports station “Brock and Salk” where he stated, “I understand you’ve got a center fielder already (in Julio Rodríguez), but Luis Robert is the impact of impact-type players and a guy who’s under contract for multiple years, too.” Passan’s insight regarding the Mariners potential interest in Robert Jr. is a new development but worth discussing.
The Mariners enter the day with a record of 24-21, good enough for first place in the AL West. They are a good team, but their pitching has carried them to this point. Their starting rotation and bullpen have been fantastic, but they are a below-average team offensively overall, according to OPS+. A big reason for their offensive struggles is their young superstar outfielder, Julio Rodríguez. He is having an abysmal season by his standards, and they have not gotten much production from right field either. Seattle ranks just 25th in MLB in batting average, 25th in on-base percentage, 20th in OPS, and 20th in slugging percentage. More specifically, their outfielders have slashed just .236/.289/.344 in 541 plate appearances.
Seattle is in the thick of the race this season, and their window to win is right now. They could use offensive reinforcements, and Robert Jr. certainly would qualify as one. When healthy, he is an All-Star level player and would instantly boost the Mariners lineup. Robert Jr. is also not scheduled to be a free agent until after the 2027 season, so he would be a long-term solution in Seattle’s outfield and form a dynamic duo with Julio Rodríguez.
From the White Sox perspective, trading Robert Jr. would be a franchise-altering move and signal another complete rebuild. Whether or not that would be the right decision is open to opinion, but recent reports have stated that the White Sox will at least listen to offers for anyone on their MLB roster, including Robert Jr. He is also the most valuable asset the White Sox have and would fetch a massive haul of young talent should he be traded.
According to MLB.com, all of the Mariners’ top eleven prospects are position players, which would align well with what the White Sox are looking for. Infielder Cole Young is their #1 prospect, and they have a wide variety of attractive hitting prospects behind him that could appeal to the White Sox. The Mariners are one of the best trade partners for the White Sox right now, given their surplus of position player prospects and Chicago’s need for bats.
Luis Robert Jr. is a star and one of the most valuable assets in MLB because of his contract. It would take a monumental haul of prospect talent for the White Sox to pull the trigger on trading him. The Mariners could create a package of that nature if they wanted to. However, whether they will do so remains to be seen. We will continue to see rumors swirl around every player on the White Sox roster until the trade deadline.
