Chicago White Sox: Season preview of outfielders

Luis Robert

Way back in May of 2017, the White Sox were in the middle of a bidding war against the Cardinals and Reds for a star center fielder in Cuba.

In four years of professional Cuban baseball, Luis Robert hit a slash of .314/.409/.467 with 18 home runs, 82 RBIs and had an OPS of .875

The White Sox won the battle and signed the star prospect who shot up to the top in a hurry.

Through some early-career injury problems, Robert was able to turn things around in a drastic way.

Between Single-A Winston-Salem, Double-A Birmingham and Triple-A Charlotte, Robert smashed his opposition. Hitting a slash of .328/.376/.624 with 32 home runs, 32 doubles along with 92 RBIs and 36 stolen bases, he established himself as a player ready for the bigs.

But issues soon began to emerge.

There was a brief scare that fans would have to live through the Jiménez-service time issue with Robert, but just as quickly the Jiménez situation died, the Robert one did as well. There is one key difference that separates the Jiménez situation from Robert and that is one little contract extension.

The White Sox extended Robert, a star, five-tool prized prospect who has not played one game in the major leagues yet. Agreeing to a six-year, $50 million contract, the White Sox placed a tremendous amount of faith on Robert and made an investment.

The USA Today’s minor league player of the year is ready for the majors and will be the starting center fielder March 26.