MLB.com Writer’s Bold Trade Prediction Sends Luis Robert Jr. To The Cubs

White Sox general manager Chris Getz has said on multiple occasions that nobody on the roster is untouchable. 

But many have assumed that excludes Luis Robert Jr, who is coming off a career year in which he was named to his first All-Star team, took home a Silver Slugger Award and was a Gold Glove finalist. Robert figures to be the face of the franchise that the White Sox built around as they try and climb back toward contention. 

However, MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince laid out an interesting trade scenario that would send Robert to the North Side of town in a massive four-player package.

The Cubs have a wealth of young talent in their farm system and have not been shy about being aggressive this offseason. They already signed, arguably the best manager in the game in Craig Counsell and are rumored to be in the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes, as well as being a potential trade partner with the Padres for Juan Soto. 

During a recent appearance on the White Sox Talk Podcast with Chuck Garfein, Castrovince discussed some bold White Sox trade predictions. His boldest prediction was a trade that sent Robert to the Cubs in exchange for Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cade Horton and two “lower-level pieces”. 

Castrovince explained his reasoning for the bold trade prediction. 

“There’s a team across town, that has Cody Bellinger as a free agent and Cody Bellinger is the darling of free agency which from a position player standpoint, not named Ohtani, and that should tell you everything you need to know about the position player market not named Ohtani and should the Cubs lose Cody Bellinger should he get 200 plus million plus from some team, you know silly enough to give Cody Bellinger that kind of money now all of a sudden you’ve got a need on the North Side and a very thin free agent market with which to fill it in,” Castrovice said. 

“So I would propose the Cubs of sending, I don’t have this completely nailed down, but a four I’m thinking a four-player package fronted by Pete Crow-Armstrong and Cade Horton, the Cubs number one and number two prospects. Pete Crow Armstrong debuted in 2023. Very well regarded, especially defensively gifted outfielder. And Cade Horton, a really nice pitching piece drafted seventh overall in the 2022 draft. I’m thinking two other lower-level pieces beyond that, but those are you know, the centerpieces of the deal from the White Sox perspective.” 

Regardless of who the two lower-level pieces are Horton and Crow-Armstrong would be a massive return to build around for the White Sox. Horton is regarded as the best pitching prospect in the Cubs farm system while Crow-Armstrong has already proved to be an elite defender in center field at the big league level. However, considering Robert is under team control until 2027 the Cubs would likely have to throw in some extra sweeteners for a deal to get done. A lot would depend on who those other two pieces are that Castrovince alluded to.

For a player of Robert’s caliber, this would not be a terrible idea for either team. The Cubs are looking to contend while the White Sox are tearing things back down to the studs. While it is unlikely that Robert would get moved this offseason, Getz would certainly have to consider a trade package like that if the Cubs were willing to part with their two top prospects.