News White Sox fans knew was coming for the better part of a week was made official by the White Sox on Saturday morning. They announced the signing of Cuban OF prospect Luis Robert and, in so doing, put another tentpole in the ground for the continual construction of their minor-league pipeline.

Robert, who will be ranked somewhere in the 20-30 range of the top 100 prospects in baseball, won’t make an immediate impact in the states, however. GM Rick Hahn told reporters today that Robert will start his White Sox career in the Dominican Summer League; Robert currently lives in the Dominican Republic.  The reasons for starting Robert in the DSL are multi-fold (and include a tax break) but they center on his not having played competitive baseball since last July due to the immigration process.

The connection the White Sox organization was able to create with Robert–through coaches, players and front office members–seemingly played a giant role in his closing to play on the South Side. Prior to Game One of Saturday’s double header, Robert threw out the first pitch. Behind home plate was Jose Abreu, Cuban Legend.

The Sox Cuban ties are deep. From Minnie Minoso to Abreu, the Sox have a tangible past to work with. Plus, manager Ricky Renteria is bilingual and featured prominently in a recruiting video that was used to pitch Robert.

WLS’s Catherine Garcia will have more on the day–including comments from Robert–in her piece this week. As always, you can check out the White Sox Weekly podcast on WLSAM.com. Rick Hahn’s opening statement about the signing are on the show.