MLB Rumors: Vlad Jr-Cubs confirmation, Luis Robert Jr truth, Yankees weakness

MLB Rumors: Yankees weaknesses were exposed vs. Dodgers

One of the biggest series of this season thus far just took place with the New York Yankees hosting the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers wound up winning two of three, but there's a major caveat. The Yankees were without Juan Soto.

Soto missed the entire series with his forearm injury, which was disappointing considering the magnitude of this series. As a result, the Yankees were held to just four runs in the two games that they lost. Aaron Judge came up huge, as he seemingly always does, but the surrounding pieces did not.

This nugget from Bob Nightengale shows just how little New York got from the Judge-less hitters in the first two games. They got more contributions in the final game from other players like Trent Grisham, but Sunday's game was another one that the Yankees probably wouldn't have won without Judge.

FanSided's Robert Murray discussed the Yankees on The Baseball Insider's podcast, and he mentioned their need to add some offensive thump.

As long as the Yankees have Soto and Judge their offense is fine, but when one of them is either injured or struggling, it's simply not the same. This major weakness could cause New York to potentially pursue offensive upgrades when the trade deadline rolls around. They'd be doing themselves a disservice if they didn't.

MLB Rumors: Truth when it comes to White Sox asking price for Luis Robert Jr.

USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported that the Chicago White Sox are seeking a package even heftier than the one that the Washington Nationals got when they traded Juan Soto to the San Diego Padres. The Padres parted with several top prospects including guys like C.J. Abrams, James Wood, and MacKenzie Gore to get 2.5 years of Soto. Robert has more club control, but that seemed like an outlandish price. Murray agrees.

"Luis Robert's very good, don't get me wrong, but he's not Juan Soto. There aren't many Juan Soto's. If you think about top-tier talent it's Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, and who else are we putting in that category? I wouldn't put Luis Robert at that point. He's good, but he should not be commanding that kind of haul. He's still going to get plenty in return for the White Sox if they do trade him but if they're going to be asking for a Juan Soto-type package then I can't imagine that he's going to be getting moved."

Robert is a fantastic player who happens to only be 26 years old with tons of years of control, but again, he's not Juan Soto. That's the simple reality. Teams will be willing to give up a haul, but the Padres gave up virtually every top prospect that they had to get their hands on Soto.

It's also important to point out that we're still roughly seven weeks away from the trade deadline. The White Sox have no reason to lower their asking price at the very least until we get closer to the deadline. It'll be interesting to see if they're still going to have this absurd price when they have to make a decision on Robert's future.

MLB Rumors: The Cubs are indeed interested in Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Breaking news. The Chicago Cubs are interested in Vladimir Guerrero Jr. And? What are we supposed to do with that kind of information? Guerrero is an unbelievable player who has turned his season around after a slow start. He's a player any team would realistically want. The Cubs expressing internal interest in Guerrero didn't feel like news, and sure enough, Murray agrees.

"There was a report that the Cubs "internally discussed" trading for Vlad Jr. That to me is not news. News would be them not internally discussing it because teams have to discuss these things. If the Blue Jays are potentially selling then you have to at explore what it'll take to get Vlad Jr. and what you'd be willing to give up. I would not get your hopes up if I were a Cubs fan, I would not get your hopes up if I was a fan of any of the other 29 teams in baseball."

Murray thinks that the fit with Guerrero and the Cubs makes sense as Chicago could use another hitter, but again, a Guerrero trade is unlikely. It has always been unlikely. This has been mentioned previously not only by Murray, but by Toronto Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins himself.

If the Jays sell, Guerrero rumors will start to really circulate. As for this one specific rumor tying the Cubs to Guerrero, there isn't much there. Teams discuss every player and what it might take to get said player. It'd be news if the Cubs weren't discussing it, as Murray mentioned.