The White Sox have agreed to sign first-rounder Andrew Vaughn, the third pick in this year’s draft, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune reports. Vaughn will receive a bonus worth $7.2212MM, right in line with the recommended slot value of his selection.
Vaughn, a 21-year-old first baseman from the University of California, entered the draft as a consensus elite prospect. All of ESPN’s Keith Law (No. 2), MLB.com (No. 3), Baseball America (No. 3) and FanGraphs (No. 4) ranked Vaughn as one of the four best players on the board. Law, the most bullish of the bunch, wrote in his subscription-only draft preview that Vaughn possesses the “best pure bat in the class” and likely the best plate discipline in the group. There are, however, questions about Vaughn’s 5-foot-10 frame, Law notes.
Vaughn’s a year removed from winning the Golden Spikes Award, which is given to the premier player in college baseball. The honor in 2019 went to Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman, whom the Orioles took No. 1 this year and then signed to a record bonus.
Any word on what organization he’ll join?
I’m assuming you meant which affiliate (since the organization is obviously the White Sox). If so, it probably won’t be announced until after the signing becomes official, but I would assume Low A ball.
hHstory shows theyll probably start him in the AZL to shake off some rust and then send him to Kannapolis to finish the season.
Yes. Andrew Vaughn hasn’t played a competitive game since his University of California team was eliminated in the first round of the NCAA college tournament the weekend before the Rule 4 Draft commenced on June 3rd.
As you said, I would expect Vaughn to spend a week or two in the AZL with the White Sox then promoting him to A- Kannapolis, bypassing their Rookie league affiliate in Great Falls much like they did with last year’s premier college hitter Nick Madrigal. Like Madrigal, I suspect that Vaughn may finish his first pro season at A+ Winston-Salem and follow a similar path to AA (and potentially beyond) in 2020.
Maybe it’s just me but it seems the WS promote their prospects aggressively early and then they kinda stagnate around the AA/AAA level.
Birmingham is where power hitters go to die. They really need to move the AA team somewhere else.
I work with their affiliate in Kannapolis so I was curious
There are, however, questions about Vaughn’s 5-foot-10 frame, Law notes.
He’s 2 inches shorter than 6 feet. There, questions answered.
But which frame? King, queen or twin? IKEA needs to know
BR lists Andrew Vaughn at 6-0, 214 lbs. which may be a little generous in the height department. The MLB player most often compared to Vaughn is HOF 1B Jeff Bagwell who was also generously listed at 6-0, 195 lbs. If Vaughn even approaches Bagwell’s production nobody will care about his height.
Btw: Aside from his plus 60 grade hit and power tools, Vaughn also landed a respectable 50 score from scouts with his arm and field numbers which is not bad for a 1B (m.mlb.com/prospects/2019/?list=draft). His arm strength was sufficient enough for him to pitch in high school while also making 10 appearances on the mound as a college freshman. He will likely stick at 1B but there is some thought that Vaughn might also be able to play some LF or 3B.
Wow I love these comments. So many scouts.
Hit him on the head a couple of times.
Then he will be 6′.
Given how slow prospects move through that organization we will prolly see him 2022
I’d say 2021
Madrigal and Robert are in AA during the first half of their first full years. Relax.
Madrigal at best will reach Charlotte this year and be a call up maybe ASB in 2020… Sooooo yea
Anderson drafted 2013, debut 2016
Collins drafted 2016, debut 2019
Anderson was an extremely raw JUCO prospect that came from splitting time playing basketball. Collins is a catcher. Your expectations are not even close to realistic.
Here are players listed at catcher drafted in the first 4 rounds (plus 1) of Zack’s 2016 draft and the highest level they’ve played at:
Matt Thaiss: AAA – hasn’t caught a game in professional ball
Will Smith: MLB – 9 games
Chris Okey: AAA
Andrew Yerzy (HS): A
Ben Rortvedt (HS): AA
Logan Ice: AA
Mario Feliciano (HS): A+
Brett Cumberland: AA
Sean Murphy: AAA
Jake Rogers: AAA
Jeremy Martinez: AAA – apparently in the Independent League already
Andrew Knizner (7th Rd): MLB – 2 games
As for the surrounding years:
2015 draft: I only saw two that have made the bigs as catchers – Austin Allen (2019 debut) and Garrett Stubbs (2019 debut). Taylor Ward has also made the bigs but as a 3B.
2017 draft: I only saw two that have even reached AA this year.
Catchers (that stay at the position) do NOT move fast. If anything, Collins has moved quickly for a catcher.
Thank you Johnny Superscout!
Madrigal has only struck out maybe 9 times in all of his
Minor League ball.
Bring him up now!
Sale, Rodon and Beckham say hi
@WillieWildcat
So does Carson Fulmer, and we’ve seen how that’s worked out so far. Of course you can say the same about Beckham.
Next up for the ChiSox – Free Agent Ricky Vaughn !!
This guy sounds like a monster, I was pretty impressed with all 3 top picks this year, hopefully they all live up to the hype.
I just hope once Bleday signs he can smack the ball around as he has all season down here in SEC land.
He’s going to probably project as a future DH due to his defensive liabilities. He’s only around 5-10 with a decent wingspan, don’t know why they have him listed as 6-0 unless they are giving him some height. He could maybe see some time in the outfield or at second base to try and find a solid position for him. He could theoretically stick at 1B but he’d be one of the shorter ones in history.
If he can pick a ball out of the dirt, he’ll be more than capable at first base. If they’re that concerned about it, they can find him a glove that’s 2″ longer than normal to make up for the difference.
I’m not too concerned about his height. If he were 5’2″, it would be a different story, but he’s not that disadvantaged at 5’10” playing 1st. Plus, his bat should more than make up for any defensive shortcomings.
I’m not either. The future core White Sox infield will likely be:
1B: Andrew Vaughn 6-0 (5-10?)
2B: Nick Madrigal 5-7
SS: Tim Anderson 6-1
3B: Yoan Moncada 6-2
If I were a betting man the player who will accumulate the best dWAR and collect the most Gold Gloves will be the shortest of the group, Madrigal.
The infield is rather short in stature. However with LF Eloy Jimenez (6’4″), CF Luis Robert (6’3″), and if RF Micker Adoldo (6’4″) finds his way to the majors they will be “tall” in the outfield.
I like Alex Manoah out of the first round. He’s gonna jet to the bigs and if I’m Peggy Hill’ing the situation I see him as a George Sherrill type right out of the gates
I remember a guy from my youth, Harmon Killebrew. He was “only” 5’11”, 213lb, played primarily 1B. He played 22 years, 1 MVP, 13 all star games, 573 HR’s, 1584 RBI’s, 8 years 40+ HR’s. HOF. People also thought that he was too short. I guess he was big enough!
It would not shock me to see him next year, if he is as good as advertised.
If he murders pitching in A ball/A+, he could start next year in Birmingham. If he is off to hot start, and team progresses to point where they are legit contenders for WC or due to weak division, it would not shock me to see him jump straight to majors mid season, since I doubt they will find fixtures at both 1b and DH in offseason.
This may seem aggressive, but team did same with Frank Thomas. And I’m only saying this, because his hit too as RH 1b is described as being similar to the Big Hurt’s, albeit with less power.