Are you paying close attention? We did have an interesting trade occur in MLB on Friday afternoon. The deal of note saw right-hander Aaron Civale be traded over to the Chicago White Sox from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for slugger Andrew Vaughn. This trade came in the wake of Civale not wanting to honor the Brewers' wishes of going into the bullpen in favor of Jacob Misiorowski.
On the season, Civale is 1-2 with 4.91 ERA over the course of 22.0 innings in five games. Since coming into the league with Cleveland back in 2019, Civale has only been a starter. While he has not pitched terribly this season, his stats are below his career-average marks. With Milwaukee trying its best to keep pace with the Chicago Cubs in division, maybe they were right to move on from Civale?
So what does this trade have to do with the Cubs? How about everything! Chicago has been leading the NL Central throughout most of the spring. The lineup is great and the makeshift bullpen continues to impress. Of course, they could always use more pitching. Given that things did not end well between Cubs manager Craig Counsell in Milwaukee, he may ask to see if Civale is available again.
Milwaukee adding Vaughn does improve the Brewers, but is Civale really long for the White Sox?
Brewers reportedly acquire 1B Andrew Vaughn from White Sox for RHP Aaron Civale, per multiple reports including https://t.co/fxQ9dsx9IV's @AdamMcCalvy. pic.twitter.com/HfDcfh2npS
— MLB (@MLB) June 13, 2025
The 30-year-old right-hander just went to the AL Central bottom feeder during his contract season.
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Why Craig Counsell, Chicago Cubs may acquire Aaron Civale later on
All signs point to the Cubs going all in this season. They have been the best team in the NL Central throughout. While there could be bigger, better and more menacing teams atop the NL East or NL West this season, Chicago is playing with a ton of confidence. When you have a team like this, you owe it to your fans to be aggressive in trying to make the dream of a World Series run into a reality.
Given how poorly the White Sox have been over the last few years, I would not be the least bit surprised if they sold off more pieces at the deadline. The Cubs are in the market for starting pitcher. It has been debated if they will pursue a frontline starter or not. It really depends on if a pitcher of that note does become available. For the time being, I would argue Civale could become available as well.
We are looking at a pitcher in a contract year, going from a fringe contender to a perennial doormat. If a team like the Cubs comes calling, maybe the White Sox brass will pick up the phone and trade their newly acquired right-hander to the North Side for a prospect and maybe some cash? Just because they are rival teams does not mean they refuse to trade with each other. They play in other leagues...
Living well is the best revenge, as Counsell is really starting to find himself in year two with the Cubs.