Luis Robert is the top International prospect in baseball, and the White Sox are absolutely drooling at the idea of adding the talented 19-year-old to their roster. To add a player with Robert’s level of talent alongside Tim Anderson and No. 1 prospect Yoan Moncada would accelerate the rebuilding process and easily make the White Sox one of the better teams in the American league by next season.
Rich Hahn and the White Sox have been the rumored favorites to sign Robert for what feels like forever, with even MLB.com listed the South-Siders as the clear leaders to land the services of the young Cuban outfielder. However, other teams like St. Louis, San Diego, Cincinnati, Houston, and even Oakland have had their name attached to phenom. The White Sox’ roster including current Cubans Jose Abreu and Moncada, who was a teammate with Robert on the Cuban national team, giving them a serious upper hand against their competition.
Top Cuban OF prospect Luis Robert in the cage. Listen to the sound of the ball hitting his bat & the impressed rooster. More today on @mlb. pic.twitter.com/eplT2ujk5t
— Jesse Sanchez (@JesseSanchezMLB) February 24, 2017
While all those teams are still in the hunt, reportedly both the Cardinals and Padres are expected to make a massive push, the White Sox seem to be the team to watch according to FanRag Sports Jon Heyman. The MLB insider spent some time on 670 the Score’s Mully & Hanley show, saying that Robert’s will command ‘over $20 million’ and the White Sox are ready with a blank check.
Heyman talking #WhiteSox potentially signing Luis Robert – “At this point I’d almost be surprised if he went somewhere else.” https://t.co/CRXq8prZpq
— Brian Bilek (@BrianBilek_) May 15, 2017
While $20+ million is a lot of quiche to offer a kid who’s never played pro ball before, but when he is being referred to as the ‘best player on the planet’ people tend to see money as an afterthought. According to Scout.com, one American League scout truly believes Robert is the best player on this planet, better than anyone in the MLB and even in the same realm as Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani – a dude who can throw 100 mph and also hit 22 home runs in 2016.
“Ohtani is the best international player out there and he’s a different animal because he would be the ace of a staff and he can hit,” a National League international scouting director said. “But Robert is up there. He’s a five-tool guy that can be in the big leagues soon. He has to be No. 2 behind Ohtani. He’s that good.”
The White Sox are expected to shed at least $27 million next season with the likely departure of Todd Frazier and Melky Cabrera, and you might as well toss in closer David Robertson and Jose Quintana into that mix as well. So that gives the White Sox nearly $82 million in cap space to dedicate to Robert. Now, they can’t just offer him $82 million, with International spending limits and such, but that is a massive cushion the White Sox have to use to their advantage.
The White Sox are looking like a team that will have money to spend, with a roster that would cater well to Luis Robert that should be infused with more elite talent over the next few seasons, Rick Hahn and the White Sox are starting to look like a future powerhouse club in the American League.
