Should the Chicago White Sox consider trading Luis Robert Jr. to a division rival like the Kansas City Royals?

It sounds like the Chicago White Sox might not trade Luis Robert Jr. before Opening Day.

White Sox GM Chris Getz first said last week that Robert Jr. is still available for the right deal. The next day, Getz hinted that teams are offering only a fraction of what he feels would motivate him to trade his All-Star centerfielder.

It was reported during the offseason that Getz is realistic enough to realize that Robert Jr. only had one productive season, and it was the only season he made it through fully healthy. That is why the demand has been at least a meaningful piece.

The best option to make sure a meaningful piece comes back to the White Sox in a Luis Robert Jr. trade is to just keep him and hope he stays healthy.

That way LRJ can rebuild his trade value beyond being a one-hit wonder who is always hurt. Then the Sox should be able to get something significant back and more.

Since Robert Jr. is only owed $40 million after this season and he is making $15 million this season, he is still considered a bargain player.

Plus, he is 27, so he is still in his peak performance years–if he stays healthy.

The Sox do have to entertain trading him much like they had to entertain trading Garrett Crochet. The same logic applies in that the club control the Sox have with Luis Robert Jr. no longer matches up with the Sox getting back to being competitive.

The soonest the Sox might threaten to be a legitimately competitive team is 2027, the last year on Robert Jr’s deal. He is likely not signing an extension considering his agent is Scott Boras who always takes his clients to free agency.

Plus, if he does suffer another major injury, the Sox legitimately have to consider letting him go for his $2 million buyout after the season. That is one reason the front office might be motivated to trade him before the season starts.

If the Kansas City Royals made an offer, should the Sox take it?

The idea of him going to that division rival has been floated.

In terms of providing young assets, the Royals have three players in MLB Pipeline’s Top 100, with two of them being catchers. So having prized catching does work in Kansas City’s favor as Getz’s love for catching prospects is well known.

However, Baseball Prospectus thinks the Royals have just one top-100 prospect. With his injury history, the Royals likely would not want to give up their top three prospects.

Their system is also not highly regarded, so they might not be the best trade partner anyway. Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter recently ranked the Royals system 25th. MLB Pipeline also rated their system 25th last August. FanGraphs ranks their system 27th.

The better question might be, would the Sox do business with the Royals regarding Robert Jr? The answer is likely no.

Sure, the Sox traded Paul DeJong to the Royals, but he was a half-season rental. When it comes to trading players with club control, Getz does seem inclined to avoid dealing with his AL Central rivals.

It is a major reason Erick Fedde is not on the Minnesota Twins. They reportedly made the best offer before last year’s trade deadline, and Getz decided he did not want to make a division rival better.

Unless the Royals made a massive offer, it seems the Sox would likely go with a trade partner outside of the division for fear of making a division rival better for a couple of years–even though the Sox are years away from threatening the division.