White Sox Reportedly Eye 'At Least' 1 Top 10 Prospect in Luis Robert Jr. Trade Package

The Chicago White Sox continue to put a high price tag on center fielder Luis Robert Jr., according to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal.

Rosenthal reported Tuesday the White Sox "believe they would look ridiculous accepting a mid-tier prospect for a player as talented as [Robert]." To that end, they want "at least" one top-10 prospect from a prospective trade partner in return for the 2023 All-Star.

Robert has club options worth $20 million for 2026 and 2027. Chicago could theoretically hold onto him now in the hope his trade value increases.

One problem, however, is that the teams tracking Robert "evidently believe the White Sox are bluffing," per Rosenthal. He included the San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets in the mix.

The MLB insider posited the Sox "are in something of a no-win position" and will "take what they can get."

Robert is in the midst of his worst season at the plate. He's batting .204 with a .339 slugging percentage, and he ranks in the bottom 10 percent of MLB in whiff rate (32.1 percent) and strikeout rate (28.9 percent), according to Baseball Savant.

His poor performance compounds the longstanding concerns over his durability. He has appeared in more than 100 games just once since 2021 — his rookie year in 2020 was abbreviated due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is a case of a team waiting too long to cash in on a trade asset.

Chicago could've gotten a major haul when Robert was coming off his All-Star appearance and a Silver Slugger two years ago. Now, it's a lot harder to buy into the idea he's a young star on the ascent.

Sure, the optics wouldn't be great if the White Sox get a relatively meager return on another key player from the 2020 and 2021 squads that made the playoffs. But it looks like the two options in front of general manager Chris Getz are either accepting a bad deal now or an even worse one down the road.