The Chicago White Sox finally got rid of Andrew Vaughn, ending a five-year experiment that couldn't come soon enough for fans. The 2019 first-round pick was selected third overall out of the University of California and was lauded as an MLB-ready bat on draft day. Instead of being the successor to Jose Abreu and a cornerstone for years to come, Vaughn is now the latest draft bust in a long line of failures by the previous White Sox front office.
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Andrew Vaughn traded to Brewers
It's actually surprising that White Sox GM Chris Getz was able to get anything of value for Vaughn, let alone a solid starting pitcher in Aaron Civale. The deal finalized on Friday came under unusual circumstances, as Civale had requested a trade the day prior. His wish was granted as the Milwaukee Brewers shipped him off to the AL-worst White Sox. In exchange, Chicago dumped Vaughn, making him Milwaukee's problem.
The 1B/DH was demoted to Triple-A earlier this season after slashing .189/.218/.314, in 193 plate appearances. Vaughn's 44 wRC+ ranked third-worst among all qualified hitters in MLB when he was optioned to the Minors on May 21, while his -1.3 fWAR was dead last.
Andrew Vaughn set up to fail by White Sox
Vaughn defenders point to the lack of development that he got in the Minors. He played in 55 games in the White Sox farm system in 2019 after he was drafted and then made the 2021 Opening Day roster. There was no 2020 Minor League season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and when Chicago decided to carry the rookie on their 2021 squad they did it with the intention of playing Vaughn in the outfield.
This is the same Vaughn who had zero combined innings in the outfield during his college and Minor league career. As you could guess, things were bad for Vaughn on defense, as he proceeded to become the worst outfielder in MLB from 2021-22 over 179 starts.
With almost no time to develop and playing out of position, Vaughn did actually have a solid sophomore season at the plate in 2022. He posted a 113 wRC+, recording a .750 OPS with 17 home runs in 555 plate appearances. Development isn't always linear with young players, but Vaughn's biggest problem was that he never improved. He was eventually moved to his natural position at first base and it turned out that he was awful defensively there, too.
Vaughn's lack of athleticism led to -16 Outs Above Average in two full seasons (2022-23) playing first base. Not only that, he was always a bad base runner and clogged the bases with his well below-average sprint speed. But no one expects the slugging first baseman to be a speed demon; they're in the lineup to hit. Well, Vaughn was mediocre at best doing the thing he was drafted to do.
Andrew Vaughn's subtle decline
Maybe the most frustrating thing about Vaughn is that, before he bottomed out with the White Sox in 2025, he kept showing just enough promise to earn more opportunities. But the breakout never came; for every step forward, Vaughn jumped two steps back.
Vaughn was simply average, a 103 wRC+ in 2023 followed by a 97 wRC+ in 2024. That's all fine and dandy if a player can provide literally any other value to a team, but all Vaughn's presence did on the White Sox was make them worse the past couple years.
The big bat that was promised to White Sox fans never arrived. Vaughn ended his career in Chicago with a slash line of .248/.303/.407, 97 wRC+ and -1.8 fWAR in 610 games. Bad on defense, no speed, couldn't hit for average, not enough power to stick at first base and wasn't good at drawing walks either that could have at least raised his OBP.
Andrew Vaughn, the antithesis of a five-tool player.
What the White Sox missed out on
With the first pick of the 2019 MLB Draft, the Baltimore Orioles selected catcher Adley Rutschman. He made his big-league debut in 2022 finished second in AL Rookie of the Year voting, and although Rutschman's production has declined in recent seasons he's already been a two-time All-Star.
Missing out on a solid catcher is nothing compared to the White Sox drafting one pick behind their AL Central division rival Kansas City Royals, who selected shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., second overall. The shortstop hasn't only risen to be the face of the franchise, Witt Jr. is one of the young stars of MLB and is coming off a 2024 All-Star season in which he finished runner-up to Aaron Judge for American League MVP.
That one's going to sting for a very long time.
Other notable players drafted in the first round behind Vaughn in 2019 are All-Stars Riley Greene (fifth pick), CJ Abrams (sixth pick), Josh Jung (eighth pick), Alek Manoah (11th pick), Corbin Carroll (16th pick) and George Kirby (20th pick).
We're not done yet though, because the White Sox also drafted Vaughn over fellow first-round picks Nick Lodolo, Shea Langeliers, Bryson Stott, Anthony Volpe and Michael Busch.