Nightmare Yankees trade rumor surfaces that would have fans rioting in the streets

If you're starting to get the feeling that the New York Yankees believe that Cody Bellinger's market will exceed what the club is willing to pay, you're not alone. The qualifying offer they extended to Trent Grisham means they either really want him back or really want him gone, and now a new trade rumor has them eyeing another potential center field alternative.

Ryan Garcia of Empire Sports Media is reporting that the Yankees have interest in Chicago White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr. Once upon a time, this would have been an exciting development, but now ... well, it feels like a hedge.

The Yankees' reported interest in Luis Robert Jr. should have you feeling uneasy

Robert Jr. has been the subject of trade rumors for years, with the White Sox in the midst of a massive rebuild. A former top prospect, he broke out in a big way in 2023, hitting a career-high 38 homers and posting an .857 OPS while swiping 20 bags and playing stellar defense in center.

At the time, he was in the midst of a very team-friendly six-year, $50 million extension that also came with two club options tacked on at the end at $20 million apiece.

However, Robert Jr.'s production fell off a cliff in 2024, posting a wRC+ of 84 while seeing his strikeout rate rise to 33.2%. Still, he was a coveted trade candidate last winter, but Chicago still had a sky-high price tag attached to him, leading him to stay put.

This year, Robert once again struggled, posting another 84 wRC+ season. There was still buzz around him at the trade deadline, but once again, the White Sox were looking for a haul. Robert Jr. would get hurt down the stretch, playing in just 110 games this year. Injuries have long been an issue for him, with 2023 standing as the only season in which he's exceeded 110 games played in a single campaign.

The White Sox picked up his $20 million option for 2026, so he's no longer a relatively inexpensive bounce-back candidate, and after failing to capitalize on his robust market for the better part of two years there's no chance that the White Sox will let him go as simply a salary dump.

They might not command what they once could have received, but they'll still want some premium prospects coming back, which, at that salary, with that spotty track record, and that lengthy injury history should have a club like the Yankees steering clear.

Instead, the rumored interest is further proof that the Yankees have put themselves in a precarious position in center field, and are staring down the barrel of either gambling that Trent Grisham's 2025 breakout was for real or trading real assets to bet on a Luis Robert Jr. bounce-back ... all the while holding Spencer Jones as their contingency, which is a risk in its own right.