Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers Halt Trade Talks Involving Big-Name Player
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The Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers have halted trade talks that would have sent Luis Robert Jr. west to the reigning world champions.
That’s according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, who reported the development in a short paragraph in his expansive weekly Sunday notebook.
“The Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers have tabled trade discussions that would send center fielder Luis Robert Jr. to the Dodgers for Triple-A outfielder James Outman and a front-line prospect,” he wrote.
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— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) April 13, 2025
The Dodgers have a variety of players who can play center field but no one has taken ownership of the position the way Robert could. With the White Sox, he has been an All-Star and won Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards.
In 2023, he played in 145 games and hit 38 home runs and drove in 80. But last year, with the White Sox mired in a record-sitting losing season and Robert limited to 100 games due to injury, he slumped to 14 homers, 35 RBIs and a .224 average.
After a strong spring training, Robert, 27, has started the season slowly, batting .163 with one home run and 14 RBIs in 14 games.
Outman, also 27, started in the outfield for the Dodgers in 2023 and hit .248 in 151 games but struggled last season and spent much of the 2024 campaign at Triple-A Oklahoma City. In 208 career games with the Dodgers, he has a .231 average with 28 homers and 84 RBIs.
This season at Oklahoma City, he has three home runs and 10 RBIs, hitting just .159 (10-for-63) in 14 games.
Nightengale didn’t disclose the identity of the “front-line prospect,” though the Dodgers have several in their stacked farm system. The Dodgers have six prospects on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 list, though that includes pitcher Roki Sasaki, the No. 1 prospect in baseball who has yet to graduate off the list.
The White Sox have loaded up with prospects through the trades of starting pitchers Dylan Cease to the San Diego Padres and Garrett Crochet to the Boston Red Sox. More top-level prospects would only aid their rebuilding effort.
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