ESPN report: Phillies top man wanted back at former club, the White Sox……..

The White Sox, who feature center fielder Luis Robert Jr. as one of their finest trade candidates, are among the select few teams in baseball that are certain sellers at this year’s deadline.

It should come as no surprise that Chicago wants a fat return. According to a report published on Sunday by Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the White Sox are keeping an ear out for bids for Robert and hope to “command a package greater than what the Padres gave up for Juan Soto at the 2022 deadline.”

It’s unclear if they’ll receive anything comparable to what the Nationals got from the Padres in exchange for Soto in 2022. Although the trade of a generational player with two and a half seasons of team control was heavily criticized, it turned out to be the catalyst the team needed to begin their reconstruction. The main players in the Padres’ trade package for the Nationals were outfielders James  Wood and Robert Hassell III, shortstop CJ Abrams, and left-handed starter MacKenzie Gore. Wood is currently MLB Pipeline’s #4 prospect in baseball, and Gore and Abrams appear to be foundational players.

Star Robert has had difficulty staying on the field. With an.857 OPS, 38 home runs, and a batting average of.264, he was an All-Star last season. He coped with a number of injuries last season, missing only two months because of a right hip flexor strain. This season, he was sidelined by a slight MCL sprain in September.

Given Soto’s history of injuries, it’s unlikely that the White Sox will receive as strong of a deal as the Nationals did for him, but it’s June, and all sellers establish extremely high asking prices that drastically drop in the last hours before the deadline. Right now, the Phillies would include Aidan Miller and Andrew Painter in their deal for Robert, along with a potential young player who stands out in the majors, like Bryson Stott, Brandon Marsh, or Cristopher Sánchez. Large trades don’t occur in June because of this absurd price.