Long-Rumored Philadelphia Phillies Trade Target No Longer Expected To Get Dealt

One of the long-rumored Philadelphia Phillies targets is not expected to be traded this spring.

Sep 24, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago White Sox outfielder Luis Robert Jr. (88) returns to the dugout after striking out against the Los Angeles Angels during the first inning at Guaranteed Rate Field / Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies have been connected with Luis Robert Jr. for roughly two years now.

Since the Chicago White Sox are undergoing a rebuild, the organization has decided to tear everything down and start from scratch, something that resulted in them finishing with the worst modern record in Major League Baseball history this past season despite still having some star power on their roster.

The Phillies tried to take advantage ahead of the trade deadline last year.

Conversations surrounding Garrett Crochet were reportedly almost finalized until the last minute, and despite the two re-engaging this winter to get something done on that front, again nothing materialized.

Robert, despite all the connections and rumors suggesting Philadelphia could acquire him, has never really been that close to getting brought into the Phillies.

And in an offseason where the front office knew they needed to upgrade their outfield group, the star slugger was still not someone Dave Dombrowski truly went after.

The asking price of the White Sox has been high for their best players, and that could have certainly scared Philadelphia away from giving up assets to acquire an injury-prone hitter with a career 27% strikeout rate who has been over the 30% threshold twice.

So, perhaps the news from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic stating Chicago is expected to hold onto him into the spring after they couldn't finalize a deal featuring him this winter either isn't something the Phillies are too disappointed about.

Maybe he's even carried through the first part of the season and they start looking for other trade opportunities for him around the deadline, something that could interest Philadelphia depending on how their unit is performing.

But, that's also a risk.

"The White Sox now appear likely to carry Robert into spring training. They did the same last spring with potential free-agent right-hander Dylan Cease and ultimately traded him to the San Diego Padres on March 13," the insider reports.

It will be interesting to see what happens here.

The Phillies have long been connected to Robert, and even though it seems like a great fit on paper, something is holding back Dombrowski from going after this deal.