Former No. 3 overall pick Andrew Vaughn's time with the Chicago White Sox has come to an end.
Vaughn was traded by the White Sox to the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday morning for 30-year-old starting pitcher Aaron Civale.
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
Aaron Civale
Civale requested a trade from the Brewers on Thursday after being removed from the team's starting rotation and moved to the bullpen. It only took Milwaukee one day to find a taker for the veteran starter, who will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2025 season.
Civale has a 4.91 ERA in five starts this season, but his ERA is 3.32 over his last four outings. Civale's ERA is inflated from a March 30 start where he gave up five runs and strained his left hamstring, landing on the Injured List.
Coming from Milwaukee, Civale has worked with White Sox bench coach Walker McKinven in the past. McKinven was also an advocate for the Sox to pick up former Brewers starting pitcher Adrian Houser last month.
The assumption is that Civale will now join Chicago's starting rotation in some capacity, filling an empty spot while Jonathan Cannon recovers from his back injury.
I like the addition of Civale, but making this the return for Andrew Vaughn is really telling about how the White Sox organization views their former top draft pick.
The trade says it all
Vaughn still has another year after 2025 where his is technically under club control if the White Sox had decided to keep him and tender him a contract. Clearly, the organization does not believe his early season struggles are going to be rectified.
Every year, it seemed Vaughn got out of the gate slow and put up bigger power numbers during the summer months once the weather heated up. His .531 OPS in 2025 was no longer worth defending. While they sent him down to Triple-A and believed he would "be back eventually," dealing him this quickly tells me all I need to know.
Vaughn is hitting .211 with a .679 OPS for the Charlotte Knights since being sent down.
The White Sox could have called Vaughn back up and hoped he got hot again. The White Sox could have left Vaughn in the minor leagues for most of the season and tendered him a contract to compete next year. But instead, they pulled the plug.
Chris Getz and the White Sox would rather invest in Tim Elko, Miguel Vargas, or Kyle Teel at first base and I can't say I blame them. Chicago lost faith. And Andrew Vaughn is someone else's problem now.