White Sox Sign Prized Cuban Prospect Luis Robert
White Sox reportedly finalize deal with Cuban prospect. South Siders could improve farm system with signing.
Saturday marked the day that coveted 19-year-old Cuban born prospect Luis Robert could test the MLB free agent waters. According to Jon Heyman at Fanrag Sports, the White Sox signed Robert with an expected contract between $25-30 million.
If the deal does land at, or slightly over the $25 million mark, according to CSN Dan Hayes the White Sox would only have $300,000 left in their international signing pool bonus left to sign international players for the next two seasons.
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Like many current stars of today’s game, such as: Sox first baseman Jose Abreu, Yoenis Cespedes, and Yasiel Puig, Robert is the newest of many Cuban born stars that are ready to make the jump to MLB stardom.
During his past four seasons playing for Cuba’s national baseball team, Robert has blown away his competition. Recording a .314/.409/.467 slash line during that time. What is even more impressive about that, is how polished Robert is for his age. Robert is still just 19 years of age and is almost on average a whole decade younger than most of his teammates. This past season put Robert on the international scale as he hit .401 and recorded more walks than strikeouts in a little more than 300 plate appearances.
Robert’s skill set has also been compared to Mike Trout, also known as the best player on the planet to most people. With a lean but powerful built at 6’2 and 175 lbs., Robert was able to display his five-tool skill set to MLB teams’ this past March.
For the White Sox, this move could not make more sense if this deal does indeed go through. Now committed to a full pledged rebuilding process, Robert would fit the mold as the next great and upcoming player in the Sox farm system. Coming straight out of Cuba, a heavily filled Latino White Sox roster could also help the transition to the States a little easier for Robert as well.
When it comes to positional availability for Robert in the future, the Sox outfield could look completely different by the time he is ready to make it to the Majors. With no star studded center fielder in sight for the White Sox, it makes sense for the organization to put their international signing pool money towards Robert.
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The Sox have gone from a bottom ten farm system at the start of the 2016 season to now an elite top five farm system in 2017 according to MLB.com. With the potential addition of Robert, the White Sox future is looking more promising by the day.