One of the more sought after candidates in the trade world, Luis Robert Jr, has had a very disappointing season in most metrics, however, he’s still a prime candidate for the Cincinnati Reds, and this article will break down why, & how the Reds can make it make the most sense even further. Don’t forget to subscribe to our articles by using the popup form or the form below! Get all the news sent straight to you.
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How Can The Reds Make It Worth It To Them?
That answer is simple. If anything, today, Luis Robert Jr makes the most sense as he ever has. He’s had a very down year, but he’s been healthy, and he’s been great on defense and against LHP, two places the Reds struggle at. If you read this article from the offseason from us, (or maybe just don’t, because today it looks real bad at what we’d of given up,) you’d see that we were ready to deal a lot of premiere prospects for his services. Now…he can be had for even cheaper, thus why I deem him making even more sense today then it did then.
This is where I start brainstorming and making it make more sense for the club. Truthfully, this may be way too over Nick Krall’s head, but maybe Brad Meador will see this and think about it and talk some sense into Nick – Get a deal in place with the Chicago White Sox to acquire Luis Robert Jr and rework his contract behind the scenes knowing you have an agreement with CWS. How can you do that? This is where it gets fun, especially knowing he’s represented by Scott Boras & the Boras Corporation, who, make no mistake…are not fun to deal with, but his hand is forced here because there’s a 0.00% chance that his options are picked up.
As of now, Luis Robert Jr’s “control” stems through club options for 2026 and 2027. Those options, as referenced here on Spotrac, are very pricey. $20,000,000 annually pricey, at that. He’s not worth that today, nowhere near, Scott Boras knows that, Luis knows that. Those options aren’t getting picked up by the White Sox, and they aren’t getting picked up by an acquiring team either. Enter the Reds & their big brains.
The Reds have done it with 2 Boras clients already, Nick Castellanos & Mike Moustakas, so it isn’t foreign to them, and it isn’t foreign to Boras. My idea here is to acquire Robert Jr for his ability to hit LHP and play + defense, while having it in the air that you are going to extend him. Give him his $40mish he was going to be due, but split it out into 5 years. Give him opt-outs, like they did with Castellanos, to make him sign the deal. What will it look like? Let’s brainstorm.
2025: $2,500,000 (White Sox send money in trade)
2026: $10,000,000
2027: $12,000,000 (OPT OUT, $2m buyout)
2028: $16,000,000
2029: $16,000,000
This would give the Reds adequate time for him to either blossom as a star for relatively cheap while Elly was still a Cincinnati Red, or if he sucked, they’d really only be giving him $20Mish and it wouldn’t be a giant stinker like Jeimer Candelario & Mike Moustakas were & they can protect themselves. Regardless, you guys see what I’m puttin’ down here. The Reds would be giving him the opportunity to make $14,000,000 additional to what he was already set to make that the White Sox committed to him when they felt he’d be a superstar. That wasn’t the case. This is a sweet deal for Luis.
What Will The Reds Give Up?
This is the biggest question. MLB Trade Values has Luis Robert Jr at -3.1 in their latest update. That means that he really isn’t viewed highly across the board, especially because he’s essentially a ‘rental’ now because there’s a 0% chance that anyone picks up his option in ’25 for $20,000,000 and he’s also due another $7,500,000 for the 2025 (current) season, prompting the White Sox to offer $ for a ‘better’ prospect return.
Long story short, what used to be a safe trade is no longer. The White Sox won’t even get a top 100 prospect for Luis, even if they send over his 2025 salary, and that’s where the Reds system with some pretty high ceiling talent comes into play. I have a very small list of prospects I’d be willing to give up, but before I say what I will give up for him, in a different article tomorrow, I want to hear/see what you all would give up for him.
