In a joyless MLB subversion of NBA Jam where your duo of players is selected in terms of their present trade value rather than on-field ability, Garrett Crochet and Luis Robert Jr. would have sliders cranked way up for their ceilings, and ratcheted down for their reliability.
Both have one All-Star season under their belts and the age, pedigree, and tools to expect more, but each have been haunted enough by injury in their young careers to cast doubt on how many times it can really be repeated.
Obviously Crochet's current trade value is significantly less affected.
Scouts and evaluators from other teams are more inclined to describe Crochet's health history making him "risky," than offering any special confidence in the theory that shifting to a five-day starter schedule has given him a sustainable physical routine going forward. But while that creates a wide diversity of opinions for how different teams evaluate Crochet, reducing the chances of an overpay, he was last seen looking healthy and dominant. Even scouts who expressed concern about the year that comes after Crochet setting a new career-high in innings by a lot, acknowledged his recent performance is such that the White Sox "can restock the system with a team that believes in Crochet."
Moreover, in a world where Frankie Montas and Matt Boyd just signed two-year deals at $17 million and $14.5 million per season respectively, Garrett Crochet's estimated $2.9 million arbitration figure has only grown more enticing to teams in the past week. The White Sox have always signaled their interest in trading Crochet and rival evaluators all agree their time is now, as even a dominant and healthy 2025 season might not raise his value over two full low-cost years of team control. Crochet's representation should also be aware that this is his peak value, and suitors weighing his extension cost is one of the few wrinkles to consider in an eventual deal that otherwise feels almost inevitable.
"In the reality of the sport, you’ve got to assess where players are at contractually and look for opportunities to help the organization long term," Chris Getz said when asked about Crochet at the end of the season.
For Luis Robert Jr. to join Crochet in being shipped out this offseason requires a cynical view of his outlook, where his current value is the last chance to cash out before another poor season makes him a buyout candidate for his $20 million club option in 2026. And as Ken Rosenthal recently affirmed, the White Sox have not been inclined to take a cynical view on Robert.
The way the White Sox see it, there is no point trading Robert for say, a team’s 15th-best prospect. At that price, the team might be better off carrying Robert into the season and taking the chance he would rebuild his value.
Crochet is stuck in the MLB arbitration system, which is literally designed to prevent owners from having to pay players their market value during their physical primes, whereas Robert's pre-2020 extension was always viewed as merely protection where his salary would go with superstar production. So Robert's trade value will never pose the natural advantages that Crochet's holds due to salary and perpetual leaguewide pitching scarcity.
But the unexpected spike that the White Sox received by allowing Crochet to shoot for his ceiling should encourage them to take a similar swing with Robert, keeping him in-house and waiting for his production to rebound, if only to midseason. The risk of injuries and a repeat of his 2024 performance scaring off contending teams from offering top tier prospects is exactly the sort of risk that the White Sox rebuilding status is built to absorb. A contending team has to forfeit both prospect capital and not insignificant salary on the hope that Robert will immediately contribute. What's the worst thing that a bad 2025 Robert season could do to the Sox team with a hollowed-out payroll? Trigger the worst season of all-time? If restoring Austin Slater from a injury-ravaged, career-worst season is an exciting project for the Sox, wait until they get a load of this Robert guy.
And in canvassing league evaluators for the pockmarks they see in Robert's trade profile, there's a fair amount that the 27-year-old should have the chance to play his way out of his reputation. Robert has a Gold Glove in his home, strong defensive ratings from a year ago and still looks the part of a center fielder, but after his metrics dipped in 2024 behind a second hip flexor injury, some teams are having to weigh his bat's production with the possibility of a move to an outfield corner. For the sixth consecutive season, the White Sox outfield mix doesn't really work without Robert in center, where they are primed to try to demonstrate that he's recovered.
It's already a fault in his recent performance that Robert has openly lamented, but his poor performance against fastballs last season (.398 slugging after a .589 mark in 2023) prompted some scouts to raise concern that most of his recent damage has come on offspeed mistakes in the zone, which will likely decrease in frequency if he continues to be vulnerable against velocity. Robert clearly has the bat speed to recover, prompting scouts to write cautiously optimistic reports "basically betting on past form," but his current status encourages interest teams to behave like "vultures circling," only trying to pry him away at a discount. With his salary not negligible, Robert's value only can drive a system-changing return for a Sox farm system still longing for positional stars if he himself is playing at a star level.
At the risk of guilt by association, Robert is just the latest of a series of once highly rated White Sox position player talents to see their performance drastically dip. With the bevy of reporting and leaguewide discussion over how their developmental and clubhouse shortcomings have fueled the team's decline, skepticism about the habits cultivated by their players abounds.
Robert's work ethic is regularly lauded by coaches and teammates alike, but the team's efforts to build player comfort with incorporating analytical data has been inconsistent in past years, to put it lightly. With a new manager and a new hitting director installed with an early mandate to turn Robert around, the Sox have put most of their recent attention on building a superior environment than what they've had in the past. Setting Robert up to succeed should be the centerpiece of their demonstration of how things have changed.
