White Sox have a brilliant plan for the MLB trade deadline and SP Aaron Civale

The Chicago White Sox front office already has a brilliant plan in place for newly acquired starting pitcher Aaron Civale when it comes to the upcoming MLB trade deadline.

The White Sox traded first baseman Andrew Vaughn to the Milwaukee Brewers for Civale over the weekend. It was a somewhat surprising trade, not because the Sox moved on from Vaughn, but because they targeted a veteran pitcher on an expiring contract as the return.

At the end of the day, it was two teams looking to maximize the value of a player that no longer had any to the organization. The Sox were ready to move on from Vaughn, who they had already sent to Triple-A, and the Brewers were stuck between a rock and a hard place with Civale requesting out of Milwaukee after being moved to the bullpen.

Civale, 30, made his White Sox debut against the Texas Rangers on Sunday afternoon as a member of the starting rotation and performed admirably. He completed five innings, gave up two runs, and struck out four batters.

It's already looking like a perfect trade by Chris Getz and the White Sox, who are now positioned with even more assets ahead of the July trade deadline.

White Sox have a brilliant plan

According to Bob Nightengale, the White Sox are already looking ahead to the trade deadline and planning to move Civale to a contending team for "at least a couple of mid-tier prospects."

"The Chicago White Sox were thrilled getting veteran starter Aaron Civale from the Milwaukee Brewers for first baseman Andrew Vaughn," Nightengale wrote in his most recent column for USA Today. "Still, they won’t have Civale in uniform long."

It truly makes all the sense in the world. Civale was traded at last year's deadline, going from the Tampa Bay Rays to the Brewers. He had a 3.53 ERA in 14 starts after being moved. That definitively helped Milwaukee's playoff push. He also did three scoreless innings out of the bullpen for the Brewers in the postseason.

Civale had a 6-3 record with the Brewers after the 2024 trade deadline, ate some huge innings, and regularly produced quality starts. He'll have the same impact for whatever team he lands with in 2025.

Civale gave up five earned runs in his first start of the 2025 season on March 30. He then landed on the Injured List with a strained left hamstring. After returning, Ciavle had a 3.32 ERA in four starts for the Brewers before getting dealt to the White Sox. He's still a quality veteran starting pitcher that Chicago essentially got for nothing. Andrew Vaughn was going to get non-tendered in the offseason.

I'm expecting more quality starts from Civale while he's in a White Sox uniform over the next month. He doesn't give up much loud contact and, dating back to July of 2024, he has been a consistent force sans one or two outings.

If Chris Getz is able to flip him for some legitimate prospects at the deadline, it's a monumental win for Chicago. That's getting serous value out of Andrew Vaughn, who is not fetching any quality prospects on his own. It's also giving the White Sox an innings eater in the starting rotation to protect their young arms in the meantime.

It's a minor transaction at the end of the day, but these are the types of little moves that well-run organizations make. It's a stroke of brilliance from the White Sox front office if they're able to pull it off.