I believe he said the video helped, but the Sox showed the most interest or something along those lines.
St. Louis post-dispatch had this.
“I feel comfortable with this team, with the people that I met with,” Robert told reporters the day he signed his contract. “I picked the Chicago White Sox because it was the team that scouted me most.”
The money didn’t hurt, either. What was Lance Berkman’s memorable line years ago? “It’s always about the money.”
The White Sox handed Robert a $26 million signing bonus, meaning they paid $52 million after the tax from exceeding their international bonus pool.
The Cardinals’ offer, which would have faced the same tax, was for less. They did not receive a chance to counter.
“When you’re looking at the overall investment it’s real and historically there aren’t too many players who sign for those type of dollars,” John Mozeliak, president of baseball operations, said in 2017 after the Cardinals received word they had not landed Robert. “It’s really hard to justify those types of dollars for any player with a lack of a proven track record. No matter how you try to equate the Cuban league or his international experience, it’s very hard to calibrate what that means to here (in the majors).”