Is There Any Hope Left for Andrew Vaughn?
Following a dreadful start to his 2025 season, where do the White Sox go from here with their former top draft pick?
It wasn’t too long ago that Andrew Vaughn seemed set to be the next star of the Chicago White Sox.
A first-round pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, Vaughn’s $7.2 million signing bonus was a franchise record at the time, and even after getting off to a slower-than-expected start in the majors, it was clear that Chicago viewed him as the team’s first baseman of the future.
Well, like most things involving the White Sox over the last few years, that hasn’t exactly worked out how they’d hoped.
In a move that arguably shouldn’t have been as surprising it was — especially considering his .189 batting average through 48 games this season — the White Sox demoted Vaughn to Triple-A Charlotte on May 23.
This is the 27-year-old’s first time being optioned since he made his big-league debut in April 2021, but according to White Sox general manager Chris Getz, “There’s a point in a lot of player’s careers where you’re better off going down to Triple-A for a little bit.”
“It really is player development at its core, and you don’t want to be reactive, you want to be proactive as much as you can,” Getz told ESPN’s Jesse Rogers after the move was announced. “The plan is to have Andrew Vaughn back here, and we feel like that’s the best thing [in order] for Andrew to continue his career at the major-league level is to take a step back right now.”
No matter how much the White Sox try to spin it, the reality is that Vaughn has had a pretty major fall from grace over the last few seasons. His demotion highlights just how far his performance has deviated from its expected upward trajectory, and now that he’s in his final year of club control, time is quickly running out for the first baseman to right the ship.
High Hopes
When the White Sox selected Vaughn with the No. 3 overall pick of the 2019 MLB Draft, it was largely due to his offensive power.
In college, he’d slugged an incredible 50 home runs across 160 games for the University of California, Berkeley, and won the 2018 Golden Spikes Award — but that pop never really transitioned to his professional career.
Vaughn made his MLB debut in April 2021, and while neither of his first two big-league seasons were anywhere near the level he’d showcased in college, his bat showed promise. He managed 15 home runs during in his rookie campaign and led the team with 17 in 2022, which was definitely enough to keep him in the lineup, even if his defensive contributions were questionable at best.
Through 2021 and 2022, a logjam at first base meant Vaughn wasn’t able to step into his natural position. To stay on the White Sox’s major-league squad, he was forced to transition to the outfield, and to say that move was an unsuccessful one would be an understatement (his embarrassing -20 Outs Above Average (OAA) in 2022 was the worst mark in MLB).
Still, the White Sox were so sure that Vaughn would be their next franchise star that when José Abreu’s contract expired at the end of the 2022 season, they made no real attempt to re-sign him.
Instead, the team allowed their longtime first baseman to walk in free agency so Vaughn could take over the position, and while the decision was controversial amongst fans, the general manager at the time, Rick Hahn, viewed Abreu’s departure as the only way for the White Sox to move into the future.
With Abreu out of the way, Vaughn became Chicago’s everyday first baseman — but still, his breakout season never came.
In 2023, Vaughn batted .258/.314/.429 with 21 home runs across 615 plate appearances, and last season, he hit .246/.297/.402 with 19 homers in 619 PA. This year, the wheels really fell off, and by the time he was demoted on May 23, he had an abysmal .189/.218/.314 line with just five home runs across 193 PA.
Vaughn’s offense has been shaky at best over the last few seasons, and his 93 OPS+ from 2023-’25 proves it. Still, it’s his defense that continues to be the biggest cause for concern.
In his first year as the White Sox’s everyday first baseman, he posted -6 OAA to rank in the bottom eight percent of all qualified fielders. He followed it up last year with an even more embarrassing -9 OAA to rank in the bottom three percent of qualified fielders, and he was sitting at -2 OAA this season when he was sent to the minors.
At this point, it’s abundantly clear that Vaughn is simply not a good fielder, regardless of which position he plays. Unfortunately, his bat is no longer good enough — or even promising enough — to make up for it, which leaves the White Sox with very little to work with.
Where Does Andrew Vaughn Go From Here?
The 2025 season is Vaughn’s last under club control, meaning time isn’t on his side. Without a deal to stay with the White Sox, he will be facing free agency in just over four months — and his current stats are unlikely to give him much power in contract negotiations.
So, can Vaughn make a comeback?
As Getz told ESPN, Vaughn’s demotion to the minors is about “player development at its core,” and maybe a step back is exactly what he needs to get back on course.
Maybe spending some time with the coaches in Triple-A will fix whatever needs to be fixed, and when Vaughn returns to the majors, he’ll be ready to show off the skills that made him a top prospect back in 2019.
Or maybe Vaughn simply isn’t the MLB All-Star he was expected to be. The reality is that despite the highest of hopes, the former first-round pick just hasn’t adapted to the major-league level, and after five seasons, that leaves few options.
If Vaughn can get his batting stats back to at least the middling numbers he was sitting on before this season, he’ll be passable enough to stay in a batting lineup — but what about his defense? His fielding has barely improved since moving from the outfield to his natural position at first base, making it difficult to see much potential.
Still, the White Sox have hope.
“Knowing Andrew’s makeup and his determination, he’s going to get down there [to Triple-A] and get to work,” Getz told MLB.com’s Scott Merkin. “This really is a good opportunity for him to reclaim the player that we know he can be… We still believe in Andrew Vaughn.”
With free agency looming, it’ll be interesting to see whether the White Sox still “believe in Andrew Vaughn” when it’s time to write up a contract extension.
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