This potential Blue Jays trade target offers blunt assessment of struggles this season

While the Blue Jays have gradually got themselves back back into the American League postseason picture as of late, it's still clear that they could still use another impact bat in their lineup. One of the main ways they could add that bat is via the trade deadline since there could be plenty of impact bats available.

Coming into the year, one of the biggest trade targets who seemed destined to be available is outfielder Luis Robert Jr., who is playing for the lowly Chicago White Sox.

However, Robert is amidst perhaps his worst season of his career, and, based off recent comments he made to Kyle Williams of the Chicago Sun-Times, he's aware of how that rough start is impacting his trade value.

“Right now, as my season is going, I don’t think anybody is going to take a chance on me,” Robert said, per Williams.

This potential Blue Jays trade target offers blunt assessment of struggles this season

And Robert may have a case once you look at his numbers. The 27-year-old is hitting just .180 through 47 games this season with four doubles, five home runs and 18 RBI. The most worrisome point had been his power outage, as he's recorded just nine extra-base hits across 167 at-bats. On the positive side, at least Robert is leading the league in stolen bases with 18 swipes this season.

Robert burst onto the scene in 2020 when he finished as the runner-up for the American League Rookie of the year race along with winning a Gold Glove, and he had his best season in 2023 when he was an All-Star and won a Silver Slugger.

Robert is in the last year of the six-year, $50 million contract he signed prior to playing an MLB game, and his name has been floated in trade rumors for parts of the last three years due to Chicago's struggles.

That said, he hasn't looked his best since he suffered an early season hip injury in 2024. After earning that All-Star now in 2023, he hit just .224 last year with 14 home runs and 35 RBI in 100 games.

Nevertheless, if Robert can somehow work out of his funk and rediscover his 2023 form (he hit .264 with 38 home runs and 80 RBI), he'll be the kind of game-changer the Blue Jays need. He'd be a pure rental bat due to his expiring contract and the Blue Jays would be able to buy low on him due to his recent struggles, but it remains to be seen if he's the kind of difference maker that it seemed like he was earlier in his career.

The White Sox will still probably have a high asking price for Robert, and the Blue Jays have gotten some strong play from their outfield as of late, and adding Robert would displace one of those players. We'll see how things shake out over the next couple weeks, but Robert's name currently doesn't carry the same weight that it did in year's prior.