It’s no secret that the White Sox need pitching. With Lance Lynn leaving for the IL earlier in the season and Lucas Giolito missing at least his next two starts, the rotation is now without its top two starters.
Could help be on the way via trade?
According to Bob Nightengale, Rick Hahn has been in talks with the Oakland A’s to acquire their ace Frankie Montas. The only problem is the A’s thugs want Andrew Vaughn in return. According to Nightengale’s account, Hahn is reluctant to part ways with Vaughn, and it’s easy to see why.
When the White Sox drafted Vaughn No. 3 overall in 2019, they did so because he had the most advanced racquet in his class, and one could clearly predict that he would one day take over Jose Abreu at first base. He lived up to the hype, debuting in 2021 and hitting 15 home runs in 127 games.
What was perhaps even more surprising is that Vaughn proved to be such a high-calibre athlete that he was able to throw himself into the entire field when called upon to do so. No demonstration of that ability was more impressive than in his MLB debut at left field, a position he’d only started playing a few days earlier due to Eloy Jiménez’s injury about a week before the season began. Vaughn coped so well with the new role that he soon became the team’s regular left fielder. At the end of the season, Vaughn played left field, right field, filling in first when Abreu needed a breather, and even playing a game in second and third place. He became the team’s smashing Swiss army knife.
Flash forward to 2021. Jiménez is back and the team traded for AJ Pollock to play right field leaving Vaughn with no position to play. But with an ascending slugger, the team wanted him in the lineup, so Tony La Russa made Vaughn DH for Opening Day. Once again, Vaughn showed why he was worthy of a high draft pick and why the White Sox want him in their future plans. After the Sox bullpen gambled away a 3-1 lead in the eighth inning, Vaughn crushed a solo home run to regain the lead. If the team had held on to victory, it could have been a pivotal moment in his young career. But they didn’t, so two days later Vaughn smashed another homer, this time a three-run shot, to seal the series win over the Tigers.
With three games on the books, Vaughn leads the team in averages (.400), homers (2), and RBI (6), and he’s done it all without batting once.
Yes, the White Sox need to find a way to eat innings while Giolito and Lynn recover. But Vaughn would pay a heavy price to find that solution.
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