White Sox Trade Luis Robert Jr. To New York Mets

After multiple seasons of trade speculation around Luis Robert Jr., a deal ultimately came to light Tuesday night.

The White Sox sent Robert, a 2023 All-Star who has since been inconsistent offensively, to the New York Mets in exchange for infielder Luisangel Acuña and right-handed pitcher Truman Pauley.

In November, the White Sox picked up Robert's $20 million option for the 2025 season. General manager Chris Getz said he planned to have Robert in a White Sox uniform for the upcoming season, and manager Will Venable called the center fielder a "game changer. But that didn't prohibit the team from exploring a return.

That includes Acuña, 23, who has appeared in 109 major league games and is the younger brother of Atlanta Braves MVP Ronald Acuña Jr, and Pauley, 22, who pitched for Harvard University and Single-A St. Lucie in 2025.

The best season of Robert's career came in 2023, when he was an American League All-Star and worth 5.3 wins above replacement, according to Baseball Reference. But after hitting 38 home runs that season with an .857 OPS, he combined for just 28 home runs over the next two seasons and had an OPS below .670.

Robert, a 2020 Gold Glove winner, maintained strong center field defense through the 2025 season and is coming off a career-high 33 stolen bases. But injuries have held him below 110 games in four of the last five 162-game seasons, coinciding with a dip batting average and slugging percentage.

Acuña ranked as high as No. 3 among Mets prospects and No. 66 overall in 2024, according to MLB.com. The 5-foot-8, 181-pound right-handed hitter has appeared in 81 games at second base, and also saw time at shortstop, third base and center field.

Across 233 career MLB plate appearances in 2024 and 2025, Acuña has a .248/.299/.341/.640 slash line with three home runs, 14 RBI, 16 stolen bases, 14 walks and 43 strikeouts. That comes out to 1.1 bWAR.

Pauley, unranked among the Mets top-30 prospects by MLB.com, was a 12th round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft out of Harvard University. The 6-foot-2 right-hander made 12 starts and 14 appearances for Harvard during the 2025 season, recording a 4.61 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP across 70.1 innings with 91 strikeouts and 48 walks. Following the draft, he pitched 4.1 innings for Single-A St. Lucie.

I love the look @HarvardBaseball product Truman Pauley's stuff. A fastball that touches 96 mph, paired with a low-80s slider makes for an incredibly tough AB.

Pauley posted a 28.9% K% while holding hitters to a .167 BAA. 12th round pick that should excel with the Mets org. pic.twitter.com/WH1kdT8RhF
— Tobey Schulman (@tschulmanreport) December 30, 2025

Related stories on the Chicago White Sox