White Sox exercise Luis Robert's $20 million option

Luis Robert Jr. will be back in center field for the White Sox in 2026. 

Probably. If he doesn't get injured or traded first. 

Sox general manager Chris Getz had been insistent since the middle of summer that the team would exercise Robert Jr.'s $20 million contract option for next season, and on Tuesday, the club did exactly that.

It looks like a massive overpay. The 28-year-old batted just .228/.297/.364 with 14 homers and 53 RBIs in 2025. Robert Jr. stole a career-high 33 bases, but two stints on the injured list once again limited him to 110 games.

He did not play after Aug. 26 after suffering a Grade 2 hamstring strain. 

Despite all that, the argument for keeping Robert Jr. is simple: The Sox don't have anyone else to play center field. Michael A. Taylor retired at the end of the season, so that leaves Brooks Baldwin as the only other guy on the roster who can stand at that position. Does that sound like a good plan to you? Me neither.

What about free agency, you ask? Cedric Mullins and Harrison Bader are probably the two best available guys who can play center field. Trent Grisham is out there, too, but after his 34-homer season with the New York Yankees, let's assume he's going to have offers from teams better than the Sox.

If you're going to overpay a guy, I guess you overpay the guy you already have in house. Robert Jr.'s upside is still higher than those aforementioned three players, even if his 38-homer season in 2023 feels longer ago than two years.

Robert Jr. has been with the Sox for six years, and 2023 remains the only season in which he has hit more than 14 homers. It's also the only season in which he has played more than 110 games. Yes, the two things are related.

A word of caution: I think the ship has sailed on the idea that Robert Jr. can be a premium trade piece. Getz held onto him at the trade deadline this past summer because he didn't like the offers he received, and I think you're going to see something similar this July -- even if Robert Jr. is healthy and effective.

The list of injuries this player has suffered through the years is so long now that he simply can't be trusted, and a healthy first half of 2026 isn't going to be enough to erase that thought from the minds of rival GMs.

If you think the Sox are going to deal Robert Jr. for two or three high-level prospects at midseason, get that thought out of your head right now. It's not realistic.

The hope is he'll be healthy and perform well for a full season with the Sox, and perhaps, finally help pull the team out of the basement in the American League Central.

Perez declines mutual option

In other news, left-handed pitcher Martin Perez declined a $10 million mutual option for 2026 and instead will receive a $1.5 million buyout.

Perez went 1-6 with a 3.54 ERA in 11 games (10 starts) in 2025. There was nothing particularly wrong with his performance, but Perez missed significant time with a left elbow strain and left shoulder inflammation. He was on the injured list at season's end.

At age 34, and with two injuries to his pitching arm in the same season, Perez can no longer be trusted to take the mound. It's best that the Sox move forward without him. 

White Sox finish season at 60-102

The long slog of MLB's regular season is over, and the White Sox have finished 2025 with a 60-102 record after Sunday's 8-0 victory over the Washington Nationals.

The 60 wins represent a 19-win improvement from 2024. In baseball, such a year-over-year increase would normally be cause for thunderous applause. But when you're coming off a season in which you were the worst team in the 125-year history of modern baseball, perhaps that increase is only a modest step forward. The bar was set so low.

The Sox started September by winning eight of the first 10 games during the month. At that point, their record was 57-90, and fans were actively rooting for the team to avoid 100 losses. Alas, the Sox concluded the season with a dreadful final two weeks, dropping 12 of their last 15 games.

That sentenced them to their third consecutive 100-loss season. The franchise has lost 100 or more games in its 125-year existence only seven times. Four of those seven seasons have occurred since 2018. It's a huge indictment on everyone who has been in a decision-making role with the franchise over the past 10 to 15 years.

Although, let's be honest: If the Sox had finished 63-99, would that have been meaningfully better than going 60-102? I don't think so.

Either way, the Sox have the best odds of getting the No. 1 pick in the 2026 MLB Draft. May the lottery luck be with them, because the franchise could use a break.

The narrative around the team is surprisingly positive, with the cheerleaders on the TV broadcast and some in the podcast arena touting performances from rookie players -- including Colson Montgomery, Shane Smith, Kyle Teel, Chase Meidroth, Edgar Quero and Mike Vasil.

Indeed, each of these players showed well enough to stick in the majors after they were called up. Nobody fell flat on their faces. Nobody got sent back to the minor leagues from that group. If you've followed the Sox through the years, you know that's something.

The question is, can they do it again in 2026 when there are more expectations placed upon them?

Many people have wondered whether the improved won-loss record and the emergence of this rookie class means 2025 was a success for the Sox.

I have two thoughts on that: First, a 100-loss season is never a success. Never. It's a catastrophe. Second, that said, the losing serves a purpose if young players learn from it, grow and get better in the years ahead.

Ask me again in two years whether 2025 was a success. If all these young guys actually form the core of a contending team down the road, then yes, this could be a year that you look back on as a building block. But if all these guys regress, and this leads to nothing in particular, then we're just circling the drain over and over again. 

Fraser Ellard, Bryan Ramos join White Sox as September callups

Major League Baseball rosters expanded to 28 on Monday, with each team being allowed to add one pitcher and one position player for September.

No matter what the White Sox did, it probably wasn't going to be all that inspirational. They chose two players we've seen before: left-handed reliever Fraser Ellard and infielder Bryan Ramos.

The 27-year-old Ellard has been struggling all season. He made the Sox out of spring training, but he didn't do much with the opportunity. He appeared in eight games, going 0-2 with a 5.87 ERA. Then he got hurt. Twice. 

Ellard has since made 23 appearances at Triple-A Charlotte, where he is 2-1 with a 6.84 ERA. 

It's not great, but that didn't stop the Sox from throwing Ellard right into the fire Monday. He was used as the opener in a 6-5 win over the Minnesota Twins.

Ellard got five outs and would have completed two innings if not for an error on third baseman Curtis Mead. He was charged with an unearned run, as he walked three batters despite not allowing a hit. That said, the Sox were leading 3-0 when he walked off the mound with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the second inning. It could have been worse.

Ramos batted .202/.252/.333 in 32 games with the wretched 2024 Sox, but we hadn't seen him in Chicago this season until Monday.

His season started with an elbow injury, and when he came off the injured list in April, he slumped badly in Triple-A Charlotte. But, he has shown signs of life in the second half, and he's already on the 40-man roster, so perhaps that's why he's getting an opportunity.

Ramos is batting .218/.317/.391 with 14 homers and 46 RBIs in Charlotte this season. Not impressive, right? However, it's only fair to look at what's been happening recently:

• First half: .194/.305/.358
• Second half: .254/.336/.440 

That second half isn't anything great, but hey, it's palatable. Ramos appeared as a pinch runner in the eighth inning Monday, replacing Chase Meidroth, who had twisted an ankle earlier in the game.

Ramos ended up scoring the game-tying run on a double by Brooks Baldwin. Moments later, Mike Tauchman doubled home Baldwin as part of a two-run eighth that turned a 5-4 Sox deficit into a 6-5 win.

Some other highlights from Monday:

• Colson Montgomery hit his 16th homer of the season. He has homered in each of the four games he's played against Minnesota.
• Meidroth hit his fourth homer of the season, a two-run blast off a hanging slider from Minnesota starter Bailey Ober in the second inning.
• Jordan Leasure retired all four batters he faced for his team-leading fifth save. Yes, five saves is enough to lead the Sox bullpen.

The Sox are 50-88, and they have evened the season series with the Twins at 5-5. 

Happy Labor Day from The Baseball Kid

 

'Explosive' Royals punk White Sox bullpen yet again

During the ninth inning of Tuesday's game between the White Sox and the Kansas City Royals at Rate Field, Sox announcer John Schriffen called the Kansas City offense "explosive."

John, my man, I hate to tell you this, but the Royals rank 14th out of 15 American League teams in runs scored this season. They are even below the Sox, who are 13th in the league. Kansas City is on the outside of the playoff picture right now because its offense has been among the worst in baseball.

Sure, the Royals punked the Sox again on Tuesday night, scoring two runs in the eighth and three more in the ninth to erase a four-run deficit and beat the South Siders, 5-4.

But I'm sorry, this is not a good Kansas City offense. It's a bad Chicago bullpen, plain and simple.

The Royals had no answers for Sox journeyman lefty Martin Perez, who allowed no runs on one hit and walked nobody over the first seven innings of this game.

He left the mound with a 4-0 lead and probably thought he had victory in the bag. Alas, Jordan Leasure, Grant Taylor and Tyler Alexander combined to light the game on fire.

Leasure gave up two runs in the eighth. Taylor (0-4) gave up three hits in the ninth to load the bases, and then Alexander surrendered two hits that allowed all the inherited runners to score. 5-4 Royals. Ballgame.

Colson Montgomery homered for the fourth consecutive game for the Sox. I guess that's nice. He now has 14 for the season and has a chance to end up as the team leader. He's three homers behind Lenyn Sosa.

Luis Robert Jr. left the game with a left hamstring strain. He's hasn't been on the injured list since July, so he's about due to be sidelined.

The Sox are 48-84. 

White Sox trounce Royals in series opener

Maybe a different venue is all it takes? Consider these numbers:

• White Sox record vs. Royals at Kansas City: 0-7
• White Sox record vs. Royals at Rate Field: 3-1
• White Sox runs scored vs. Royals in three games Aug. 15-17: 5
• White Sox runs scored vs. Royals in the first four innings Monday: 6

The Sox were ready for Kansas City left-hander Noah Cameron (7-6) on Monday night at Rate Field, scoring three runs in the first inning and three more in the fourth. The early offense led to an easy 7-0 victory.

After Chase Meidroth started the bottom of the first with a single, the Sox stacked up three run-scoring doubles by Edgar Quero, Lenyn Sosa and Curtis Mead to take a 3-0 lead.

In the fourth inning, the Sox hit back-to-back homers. Korey Lee's two-run shot made it 5-0. Brooks Baldwin followed with a solo blast.

But perhaps the story of this game was starting pitcher Shane Smith (4-7), who needed only 80 pitches to complete seven innings of shutout ball. Smith struck out three, walked one and allowed just one hit. He threw 54 of his 80 pitches for strikes. 

After a midseason malaise, the rookie right-hander looks rejuvenated since coming off the injured list on Aug. 1. In five starts this month, Smith is 1-0 with a 2.63 ERA. He's got 24 strikeouts against 11 walks across 27.1 innings pitched. He's allowed only 16 hits, which means he's only allowing one batter to reach base per inning over that span. 

That's what you're looking for from a starting pitcher.

Tyler Gilbert pitched two innings of scoreless relief to finish off a combined two-hitter in Monday's game.

The Sox are 48-83. 

Sometimes all you can do is laugh ...

The White Sox scored 23 runs in the first two games of their series against the Atlanta Braves.

On Wednesday, they lost 1-0, reverting to form.

Sometimes all you can do is laugh at the ineptitude. That's 33 games this season where the Sox have scored one run or less. 

Boring and unwatchable. I couldn't make it through the game without changing the channel. 

I keep hearing people say "at least they are better than last year." Sure, they have 45 wins with just over five weeks left in the season, after winning just 41 games in 2024.

Thing is, the 2024 Sox were literally the worst team in MLB history. Everyone, LITERALLY EVERYONE, is better than the 2024 Sox. 

Thus, whatever improvements the 2025 Sox have made don't deserve celebration.

I made it to 42 years old before witnessing the Sox losing 100 games in a season. Now, it's common. The bar has been lowered. 

Stop applauding mundane things. This season is yet another disaster.