Robert. I connect with that name.
No “s” on his. Doesn’t need it. For he ain’t the Julia or Nora or John type. He different.
He came in the game swinging his bat, allowing it to speak for him. Loud — .338 BA/.378 OBP/.567 SLG with a .946 OPS in his second year. The season after he came in second for American League Rookie of the Year and won a Golden Glove. Signs of a star being born. The Sox had inherited a natural-born leader.
Then, last week, not long after he bombed the most pimpish seventh-inning, go-ahead home run of the White Sox’ season against the Cubs, Luis Robert Jr. was asked in the clubhouse, “Do you look at yourself as a leader now?” Through Billy Russo’s interpretation, Robert responded with the unexpected: “I don’t see myself as a leader. I try to do my job and be on the field and do the things that we all are supposed to do and maybe be an example for others. But I don’t see myself as like a leader.”
Damn. Tell us how you really feel La Pantera.
On a team that has been referred to by certain people in this city as “bottom-feeders”; on a team that has allowed the Cubs (with their recent postseason push) to make its presence look worse than its lowly record; on a team that recently had its lack of leadership and commitment to the game over the last two seasons be put on public blast by former players who are spilling more tea about their time on the South Side than Bravo housewives, the last thing the ChiSox need is their best-est player, who is having (arguably) his best season, to not take some ownership in the systemic vacancy that has plagued the team since Jose Abreu left.
But it’s more than that. Somewhat deeper. Because what Robert said won’t make or break the Sox’ season. That was already done long before he decided to spit his truth. The problem Robert is going to have with his honesty is how it will affect him directly and professionally. Especially while he’s in a ChiSox uniform.
The one thing I don’t want but feel might happen is for Robert’s words to come back and stalk him when his next contract negotiations begin. Owners in professional sports ain’t big on paying $100 million-plus to players who don’t feel, believe or say in public that they aren’t leaders. Contributors get contributors contracts. And if Robert holds true to his beliefs in self and the ChiSox remain who they’ve recently shown themselves to be by the time contract extensions and negotiations are directed his way around 2025, those seven “I don’t see myself as a leader” words will be the bane of his MLB existence. And he will realize how unnecessary it was for him to say them in his out-loud voice.
It’s not that Robert has to be the leader of the Sox, he just has to be a leader. With an understanding that his bat and glove can’t be the only things that speak to his definition of leadership. Especially when he’s positioning yourself to be in MVP conversations every season until his contract is up.
A comparable: The Astros’ Yordan Alvarez. Both Alvarez and Robert are 26 years old, both are from Cuba, both are outfielders (one in left, one in center), both were AL All-Stars this year, one’s a free agent in 2026, the other in 2029. One entered the weekend hitting .278/.386/.571/.957 with 21 home runs, the other hitting .273/.328/.567/.894 with 32 homers. One has a 2.6 WAR, the other a 5.0. One has 69 strikeouts this season, the other has 136.
But the SO swatch cannot explain how one is sitting on a six-year, $50 million contract (2020-2025) while the other is signed to a six-year, $115 million contract (2023-2028), despite the difference in timing of the signings of the contracts or the fact that one is playing for the defending World Series champs and the other is playing for a team with the fourth-worst record in MLB. As players individually, there’s a mirror between them.
(Note: The ChiSox have $20 million club options on Robert’s contract for 2026 and 2027 with a $2 million buyout.)
I’m not stupid (or I try not to be), so I know that Alvarez’s and Robert’s circumstances are different and that Alvarez coming in third in MVP voting in a contract year played a large role in how his contract eventually shaped out. But both of them serve the same purpose for their respective teams, and player-to-player, there isn’t a $65 million difference between the two. And while Alvarez has bona fide leaders on his squad by the names of Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker, Justin Verlander, Michael Bradley, Abreu and manager Dusty Baker, he knew that getting the respect and contract he got came with not trying to be the leader but by simply being one of. And by never saying — at least not on the record — that he doesn’t see himself as one.
In the profession of sports, money isn’t everything, but a player’s value is. And the way teams compensate that value is through the number of numbers that appear on their contract. In this game, at this level, when you are a generational-talent-type player and your value is often bookended by an “M” and a “P,” how your money is delivered to you distinguishes who you are. Either they hand you a bag, or they back up the truck. Robert is a truck player. I’m just scared that when the time comes, the Sox are going to see him as he sees himself — and just offer him a bag.
