The White Sox acquired right-hander Aaron Civale and cash considerations from Milwaukee for first baseman Andrew Vaughn. The Brewers optioned Vaughn to Triple-A Nashville, while Civale will step directly into Chicago’s rotation. The Brewers are reportedly sending cash to offset the difference in remaining salary between Civale’s $8MM sum and Vaughn’s $5.85MM figure.
It’s a quick turnaround after Civale requested a trade away from Milwaukee on Thursday. Civale’s trade request came on the heels of the club’s decision earlier this week to bump him from the rotation in order to call up top pitching prospect Jacob Misiorowski. Civale, a free agent after the 2025 campaign who struggled a bit last year but has pitched to a 3.32 ERA and 3.92 FIP in four starts since returning from the injured list last month, evidently wants to hold onto a rotation job to set himself up for success in free agency this winter as much as possible.
The 30-year-old’s wish was promptly granted, as he’s now headed for the White Sox. The South Siders have no real hope of competing for a playoff spot this year, but with a patchwork rotation that features multiple Rule 5 draftees it’s not hard to see Civale as a potentially substantial upgrade for their starting rotation. While a team headed for their second-consecutive 100-loss campaign acquiring a rental starting pitcher in the middle of the season is a rare occurrence, one can see the logic from Chicago’s perspective given that they’ll have the opportunity to flip Civale to a club with postseason aspirations closer to the trade deadline.
The logic is particularly sound for the White Sox given the player they’re giving up in return. Vaughn was the third-overall pick in the 2019 draft and a longtime top 100 prospect, but his major league career has been a disappointment so far. He entered the 2025 season with a career .253/.310/.415 (102 wRC+) slash line at the major league level and has had just one season where he had hit at a clip substantially better than league average. Things took a more pronounced nosedive this year, as he’s slashed just .189/.218/.314 (44 wRC+) across 48 games for the White Sox in 2025. It’s the lowest on-base percentage of any player with at least 120 plate appearances in the majors this year, and his -1.3 fWAR this season is dead last among all hitters who have stepped up to the plate in the majors this season. The Sox optioned him to Triple-A Charlotte a few weeks ago and he has hit .211/.328/.351 in 15 games for the Knights since then.
That’s not a player the White Sox could expect to get a substantial prospect return for this summer, and while Vaughn has one year of control remaining after this one he currently has the look of a clear non-tender candidate. That surely made the opportunity to roll the dice on flipping a veteran starting pitcher a very attractive option for Chicago.
With all that being said, it’s not as though the deal doesn’t make sense for the Brewers. Civale no longer fit in an increasingly deep Brewers rotation mix, and his roster spot is likely better used on other arms more suited for bullpen duty than a veteran starter with zero career relief appearances. What’s more, Vaughn’s underlying numbers paint the picture of a player whose actual performance isn’t all that different from his previous seasons as a league average hitter. While he’s walking at a career-low 3.6% clip, he was never an especially patient hitter. His 22.3% strikeout rate is only a tick higher than last year, and his 13.3% barrel rate this season is actually the best of his career and four points better than last season. Vaughn’s ghastly .217 BABIP should improve with time, and with incumbent first baseman Rhys Hoskins likely ticketed for free agency this winter getting Vaughn on board as a much cheaper possible replacement makes sense.
In the shorter term, Vaughn will serve as minor league depth. The Brewers reportedly view him as a full-time first baseman/DH even though he has experience in the outfield.
Jon Heyman of The New York Post first reported that Milwaukee was trading Civale to the White Sox. Jesse Rogers of ESPN reported that Vaughn was headed back to the Brewers. Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reported the cash exchange.
Kind of hilarious he requests a trade and goes to the worst team in the league lol
Not really. There’s no money in being a low leverage long reliever. He can start in Chicago
I actually don’t think he’ll start in Chicago, their rotation is a lot better than people realize
He’ll start so that he can be flipped at the deadline.
They wouldn’t trade for a pitcher, disgruntled from moving to relief, just to put him in bullpen.
Civale – trade me
Stearns – no problem
White Sox – you can sleep in the bullpen
🤣
Arnold-no problem
Total brain fart I do stand corrected. Great move for Milwaukee though.
Who is Stearns? Makes me think Counsell had influenced this trade.
Stearns left for the Mets two years ago
What does Stearns have to do with it?
@Marco- The White Sox would not trade for him to use him as a reliever when he just requested a trade to team who would use him as a starter. The optics would be terrible and the White Sox can’t afford any more bad optics. To top it off, they have to increase his trade value and they aren’t doing that by having him pitch mop up innings. He’s going to start.
He will start this weekend in Cannon’s spot instead of having a bullpen game.
Stearns is so good at his job he influences other teams to make trades😂
He’ll start. Cannon is hurt, been using a bullpen day every 5th day lately.
O so civale isnt better than Burke or cannon or even Davis ok I think they can make room for him
Mike Vasil is back in the bullpen. Maybe they’ll send down Owen White or Jordan Leasure. They also dfa Bryce Wilson a few days ago.
Exactly!
He may start tonight .
The last Brewers guy took an Uber, arrived in Chicago (The Rate) at 1:30 PM, and pitched at 2 PM.
Neither Stearns nor Counsell are with the Brewers any longer. How could they have influenced any trade involving teams they don’t work for?
Yeah, I disagree with him being in the bullpen. He’s a trade piece and there’s no way they’ll torpedo whatever value he has by keeping him in the bullpen. They’ll try to wring as much value as they can from him, and that is as a starter
Sung to the tune of the Tina Turner song.
Yes they have one of the top rotations in baseball. LOL
@poolerh
There’s a certain mindset and pattern regarding a type of player the MKE overrated front office wants on the team. Unfortunately, Vaughn fits that type. See Durbin, Capra, Dunn, Black, Frelick, Miller, Brosseau, Sogard, Winker, etc, etc.
Why would the whitesox trade for a pitcher who wanted to be traded because he wasn’t starting only to put him in the pen lol
Simply put, the White Sox are betting Civale will have more trade value at the deadline than Vaughn whereas the Brewers are trying to both win now and look to next year. Barring injuries, Vaughn or Hoskins could also be moved by 07/31.
I think they should try him at second base
This was a great trade for CHW – they basically grabbed him for free while upgrading 1B.
With CHW claiming Noda off the Red Sox, Vaughn was already replaced with a better potential 1B. Then, they flip him for a serviceable SP who may have additional trade value at the deadline.
Thanks Brewers!
@Marco: Im sorry, your ‘what’ hurts?
The Sox rotation is great against subpar opponents, but I think its safe to say they have 1 dependable guy and a lot of ‘roller coasters’. Civale will be no different at worst. At best, he is a starter that can build up some credit if he pitches well.
If money is everything than this trade works perfectly for him and the brewers. No room for betas that don’t want to win.
“Betas” lol
bucsfan, but with the Brewers he could be in the post-season. More money and a (distant) shot at a ring. With the White Sox, he can only dwell on his innings pitched.
@letitbelownstein The chances he’s still dealt to a team with the chance to contend is very high. I very much doubt he’s a White Sox by the end of this year. On top of that, his value as a free agent goes way up if he’s solid down the line as a starter as opposed to a long-relief guy out of the bullpen.
He may stay the whole year. The Sox have 4 young pitchers that haven’t thrown 100 innings in a season. Doubt any of those kids will be starting games in August and September.
They can manage their innings now with Houser and Civale here. Do a couple phantom IL-stints “arm soreness”. Rental arms always move by the deadline if they’re decent enough.
You listen to Schriffen don’t you?
kscheer: Which brings us to that old saying, “Be careful what you wish for.” It would be fitting if the Sox used him out of the bullpen.
Any way you slice it he is a pitcher on an mlb active rostor..life is good
Pretty ungrateful to be one today I’d say. Hats off to stars for getting rid of this by the time civale woke up.
Civale can phase out the “bullpen days” the Sox have been using ever since Cannon went on the IL.
He wants to start. He’s going to start.
This really is weird to me, why would the Brewers ever see value in Vaughn? It’s surprising that some team like the O’s or so many other pitching starved teams wouldn’t take a chance – and offer more than Vaughn?
Dogbone: You’re right. Vaughn can’t hit and, when the Sox got the genius idea of playing him in the OF, he graded as the worst OFer in the game in 2023. His numbers offensively and defensively are horrible again this year. I guess the Brewers are gonna find out the hard way how bad he is.
There’s talent is him somewhere otherwise he wouldn’t have been a top prospect and a top 3 pick. Maybe a change of scenery and new team will help him realize his potential
As much as I think this org is incompetent, I think the Sox will be using him as a starter. Aside from Smith, he cannot really do worse. At least he’ll be a starter on the Sox until the trade deadline passes, if he is with the Sox still, and other pitchers finally start being more consistent..
But that’s what he wants. It’s his contract year and the Sox should be able to offer him the starting opportunity he needs to show what he’s worth. A good team might not put him in the rotation.
Beggars can’t be choosers.
“A good team might not put him in the rotation.”
Yet they will start him so they can flip him to a good team in need of starter.
Makes me wonder why Milwaukee didn’t do that now?
He could have gone to Colorado, where they’re even worse and where he would have had to pitch in a hitter-friendly park…
I don’t know why more gms don’t treat pitchers acting like children on this. Go to Siberia good luck.
Colorado prolly said we have enough problems we can’t fix we don’t need any more with civale.
@HEHE- Because GMs don’t make emotional transactions, they have to do what’s best for the team. They would be dumb to outright release him and give another team a buy low chance on a formerly successful starter (who has an opportunity to continue being good elsewhere).
On top of that, there’s a good chance everything went down really respectfully and professionally. I’m not sure why everyone assumes a trade request involves screaming, throwing things, and bitterness. Teams are smart–they know if a guy’s attitude in a situation will be a clubhouse problem. Evidently, Civale is a pretty good clubhouse guy, contrary to how you’re trying to paint him.
I think its because long term you dont want to burn a bridge if you can sign them as a FA (even if you work for another club down the road)
You get what you can get for him absolutely.
My gripe here is a #4 starter at best demanding anything. He stinks let’s get real.
12 hours after public and he’s gone and you think this went peaceful. No this was public and Milwaukee got rid of a club house cancer. They did great here all things considered.
I don’t doubt when he’s getting what he wants he’s great for the team. But this stuff no it’s toxic you needed to take the trash out from his or his agents statements following the demotion.
As an mlb veteran with his numbers he’s not qualified to stand in this at all and is very lucky he’s not taking next contract w this season and Colorado numbers here.
I think that just comes down to preference. The brewers preferred Vaughn over togalia as they should.
It’s a sad mentality when you think every club-player interaction is a negative one just because of the outcome.
First off, this was a trade request, not a demand. Those words are chosen carefully in reports and have very different meanings. Second, you have absolutely no insight to the state of the clubhouse, so I’m going to trust the reporters who do instead, and they’ve never said anything bad about Civale.
“As an mlb veteran with his numbers he’s not qualified to stand in this at all and is very lucky he’s not taking next contract w this season and Colorado numbers here.”
I don’t think that’s an accurate assessment.
So civale took this one on the chin here right? Was a professional and is out the door in less than 24 hours.
Yea keeping him next day in this was not gonna fly in the clubhouse. They needed him gone he needed to go.
You sound like someone defending the survivor narrative post 40 as survivor over what i grew up with. 26 days and 39 are not the same. Want a good watch there go check out the Australia season. Us season 50 is gonna be awful.
Life is both beautiful and disgusting. Civale statements performance and the very minute he stayed on roster were toxic stuff here man.
If a reporter wants to run with it by all means they should today if he is again requesting anything vs being team and professional first. It’s selfish stuff. The only think he should be requesting is time off. The brewers sure gave it to him.
You do you my dude. Did you predict a 30-50 out of PCa preseason? Did you call the sasaki injury preseason valid? Are you in the Mauracio bandwagon yet or not?
I make hot takes. Some right some wrong.
I am not in the wrong if civale is doing what he’s doing and 12 hours later he’s in Chicago.
If you don’t like me or my takes totally fine you can block if you choose.
I don’t do this full time anymore it’s definitely hobby at best for me and I’m not getting paid for it here either. However I am brought back after ip ban. So keep in mind I was still silenced wrongfully and brought back into the room.
As far as clubhouse though I’ve very familiar with Murphy. My father graduated high school with the guy. Never meet him personally though.
Civake is serviceable at best now and going forward. A barely .500 career pitcher with an era north of 4 acting like an as veteran in the clubhouse. Stop it here.
What if the brewers didn’t trade him? does he not report. Does he tail in leg. Or his he kicking and screaming like he is with his statements from him or his agent. Much like Brandon and Phillip.
He’s very lucky he’ll be going to chicagos bullpen. He can sleep all he wants there. He very well could be learning how to reinvent his career from chase Dollander today as he should be.
Professional or not this is uncalled across the board. But not surprised in the least he thinks hes entitled to this.
And again ill happy defend Rafael devers against Boston here vs civale is better than brewers baseball. No he’s not not at all my dude.
275 responses on a civale trade request and I’m off my rocker here? We’re double commenting in statements and again I don’t know what I’m talking about today.
No bro you can jump off mine if you ain’t got nothing to bring but how is this class act stuff on his part and how he’s so great he’s gonna make contender out of Chicago.
I’m sure a sp great when he gets what he wants. When he doesn’t and isn’t that good to begin with. It’s ungrateful stuff. Idc how he went about it but the fact he didn’t last 24 hours tells you something about that character before during or after I can assure you
I’m pretty sure Comiskey Park is considered hitter friendly. More so than Miller Park at least.
If he can put together some solid starts over the next 6 weeks, he’ll likely end up traded to a contender at the trade deadline. (But I agree, it’s a very funny immediate outcome.)
Meowx2: this. It’s a move for a future deadline move. But I can’t help but feel the Brewers have a s*** eating grin as they send him off to the lowly White Sox.
nuke – It’s likely for only 6 weeks, 3 1/2 months max.
Not like Civale’s goal was to play for a contender.
I don’t know, I doubt there’s that much vindictiveness with any of the involved parties. Feels like everybody sort of got what they wanted out of the situation.
Trust me, no front office is happy about a mid season trade request. Getting Vaughn out of the deal was actually more than I thought they’d get. Not bad.
nuke: I trust me more than I trust you, sorry.
Exactly. Meow, While the team sucks, there are many places worse than spending the next six weeks than Chicago.
dewey – Exactly, with Colorado being the worst.
Chicago in the summer? Yes, please!!
cbrook – Jussie do it!!!
2nd worst team, lol
Xis: Give us time. The Sox will find a way to hold onto that record.
And brewers get back the worst player in baseball this season
Weird
Basically a contract dump.
Plus the White Sox will flip him again before the deadline. They are hoping he continues to pitch well and get a nice prospect in return. Civale will get his chance with a contending team if he plays well.
No, they should have sent him to the Rockies.
The worst team in the league is the Rockies.
Good move for the White Sox. They’ll get way more for Civale than they would Vaughn at the deadline.
>the finger of the monkey’s paw curls
Colorado, by far, worst team in MLB. WS have some hope, Rockies have none-
Pitching for the Sox has been good for Adrian Houser so far.
Except its likely Adrian is not sticking around, there is a really good chance he is flipped for more prospects.
The Sox would be stupid to do that, but its the Sox. Until ‘the mummy’ leaves control to the new owner, its going to be bottom dollar effort.
I hope it comes back to haunt the Brewers. Classless move.
Why should it? The White Sox likely offered the best compensation plus provided the most immediate opportunity for the player. You don’t make sense.
lol Vaughn equals a bag of baseballs he stinks
Vaughn is a class guy and maybe just needed a change of scenery!
@kink1986,
Not true! Andrew Vaughn, along with Pliny the Elder, are the pride of Santa Rosa, California.
Im not sold on Vaughn, but to be fair to him, he came up during COVID, no minor league time, asked to play in the OF instead of his natural position. However, when finally getting back to ‘his’ position he just got worse…
Regardless, I hope he has success in the league, it would be another nail into the coffin of, what the new owner should see as, an ineptly run org that has to ‘wander’ into good players through trades to convince its fans ‘No, really in ANOTHER three to 5 years we will be good’ so they will be dumb enough to keep funneling money into the owner’s pockets while using bottom dollar tactics to run his org.
@chisox_fan that’s very true. Look at Gavin Sheets in San Diego. He could be on pace for season high in all offensive categories. Right now Sheets is 51 hits, 4 homers, 12 runs and 14 RBIs from tying season highs.
Sox “law firm” of Burger, Sheets & Vaughn — three burly power types — now all gone.
He wants to be a starter and the Brewers clear a roster spot of someone who didn’t wanna be there, win win
Hello, Mrs. Civale. Glad your son gets his way.
Explain classless.
Andrew Vaughn about to lead the league in hitting
Hitting what? Certainly not a baseball…
Because, as we all know, the White Sox are elite at developing hitters
Yeah, Im not sold on Vaughn being an elite, even above average, hitter. But then again the White Sox cannot develop anyone other than high draft pick pitchers, and sometimes somehow make ‘cant miss’ guys miss spectacularly (or trade them for over the hill players).
In triple A ball? Maybe. But not likely.
They helped him land a rotation spot on a team geographically close to them.
Yeah, they really did him wrong.
Classless is… quickly finding the trade that the player politely requested?
So he should sit in the bullpen be absolutely miserable and kick piss and scream at every opportunity.
No hats off to stearns. This is pros pro stuff outta him today.
FYI it’s Arnold these days. Stearns for Mets. Counsell for Cubs.
@HEHE… Does Civale like owe you money or something? I mean did he like reject an offer to sign a baseball for you that you wanted to put up on eBay? I mean what?
He is a player on a major league club which you should be completely and emotionally detached from….If you are invested so heavily in a guy that has done nothing personally to you, I suggest you go outside a take a walk or something.
No with him not at all but in that regard Daryl strawberry owes me a baseball. A shoelace and an answer. That’s beef stuff.
This Civale escapade is basically equating to him as a toddler throwing a tantrum. With a bar of candy in his mouth already.
He’s a 30 year old man that can’t be a team guy here for all the pro Henry/breslow fans here which I’m sure your among as well. Devers ain’t wrong Civale absolutely.
I’m 100% detached but I have a right just as much as you to make a take based on stance from player management organization or ownership.
You take the money you play the game you’re supposed to love and we wanna pay Civale his “dues here” on a 5 era and how badly Milwaukee could have used what the defense suggests is. Passable sp in this league.
Please I need a walk I’m in great shape for the lack of exercise in my life my dude but if you wanna play nerd here bet I can be brainiac.
Respectfully to Tim I don’t make it personal with a user on here until they make it personal with me. Like who are you man trolling users on a mlb message board made to debate all baseball top to bottom.
Don’t like it block me. Tim rightfully removed me from ip pan on some of the peanut gallery stuff here. We can play clowns like Bryce Harper though bro bet.
But it’s cool man. You wanna show me a thing or two about a thing or two no hate. Respect. Guys doing what you and I aren’t doing. And god forbid he appreciates the opportunity or affordability it’s taken him in his life and career here. Ala against someone like Bauer in other side of the coin here.
But you though nah there’s no need to attack a user publicly and if ones attacked bet they are subject to that. Just like Civale here. Should we shut up and swallow pride or tantrum for a trade like this knuckle head. It’s pitch and okay baseball and he can’t pitch today.
Please you look really foolish here defending mediocrity. If that’s what you like doing in your spare time and I’m in your head enough to triple comment back on this dude.
Whose really trolling vs defining the narrative in both rooms here 🤙
Civale is dead wrong and so are you here
You whine about assuming, but yet do it, apparently you are right and everyone else is wrong, must be a lonely life you got. But whatever, wanted to be muted? Mission accomplished. One day you may find everyone has muted you.
🤷♂️✌️ I don’t see that happening but we’re built very differently dude. You’ll see I actually can thank Tim for that one. You can tuck Civale in the bullpen all you want here man.
Civale will be traded again in six weeks anyway…
Yes, great move by Getz.
Civale will be traded for a prospect. Vaughn contract wasn’t going to be renewed. Arb eligible.
Vaughn can hit a fastball, unfortunately everyone knows it. It’s the major leagues,all he will see is breaking pitches
Good bye
Plus Reinsdorf made a couple bucks. That’s probably a tipping point lol.
The $ were to offset salaries. Neutral money trade.
Care to explain? Civale requested a trade, and the Brewers traded him.
A guy asking for a trade to be a starter and the organization immediately doing so, to a team that will use him as a starter, is the utmost in class as an organization.
there are a lot of lonely men in this forum
thank you dogbone
Might be the best team for him to go to. He does well there – he is bound to get traded again. Brewers knew they weren’t going to get much for him, and weren’t going to trade him to a contending team. Now he goes to the White Sox with a chance of being traded again next month.
Yep, although now he may end up with an NL rival including across town with the Cubs.
Brewers could have controlled where he ended up, but this will allow Getz to determine that. Surprising that no “contender” felt they needed a starter. Its more likely Vaughn was the best offer they got. Good luck on that wishful flipping.
Brewers made a baseball decision to work a big-time prospect into their rotation; Civale had the right to request a trade given his situation and decent performance. Why should anyone gripe about this at all?
Now Civale gets to be in the rotation and head into FA with the best shot at a decent deal if he performs. If not, he got his chance.
Exactly. So many people are acting like he “demanded” a trade instead of “requested” one. Hope it works out for him.
Dude probably worked his whole life for this free agency opportunity.
He may never get another window to secure his bag
Real question: did Milwaukee look after “a good citizen’ here?
Pitching depth is always in demand for contenders.
“Pitching depth is always in demand for contenders.”
Not today, it wasn’t.
Yep, this is the MLB not the NBA. Baseball players are a lot less whiney than their basketball counterparts.
He’s not a player caliber if demanding anything in Milwaukee. No not at all.
Again, though, he didn’t “demand”—he requested. And to be honest, this works out well for all parties. Milwaukee gets a former top prospect they can try and rehabilitate into their 1B of the future at minimal cost to their org chart, Civale (presumably) gets to remain in the starting rotation and probably get flipped to a contender at the deadline, and Chicago gets a flier on an average-to-good SP who they might be able to flip for something better than Vaughn if Civale does well over the next month. No one is the a-hole here.
@HHH – I have seen your name, and see your chosen avatar and enough of your comments to know that there is nothing that you add of value around here, Or probably anywhere for that matter.
The guy clearly has a serious grudge against a player who, as far as we know, did nothing personally to him.. Like I said in another comment, if one is so driven to be that vitriolic to a guy he likely has not met then he needs to get outside and take a walk, cause there is more to life than this.
I mean, he wants to start and not be a bullpen arm, White Sox will give him that opportunity. I’m not sure he was expecting to go to a team going nowhere though, but he did ask to be traded.
He can definitely increase his stock playing for the White Sox and then hit the open market and get his money.
I demand a trade!
Ok, off to the Pale Hose you go…
I was kidding! I’ll stay!!!
Yikes. It’s better than going to Colorado but that’s about it.
Nah, nearly any rotation (except playing in Colorado right now) is better than going to the Brewers bullpen when you’re a pending FA veteran SP
Why would the Sox want him?
To flip him at the deadline if he performs well.
Trade deadline where they can trade him to a contender for a decent prospect – Milwaukee likely didn’t want to do that.
Why wouldn’t the Brewers want a decent prospect? Wouldn’t that be better than a failed prospect, who’s close to FA?
Brewers might not (and apparently so) either didn’t want to deal with a contender or they just didn’t get as good of an offer.
Those being the options, when seeing what they got from Chi I think surely there was a better prospect available that didn’t have this guys payroll hit.
Leaves me thinking they didn’t want to trade with a contender.
Just reasonable scenario to answer the question. No one knows for sure.
“Bullpen game” is currently the 5th starter in the Sox rotation.
Why does Tommy Pham have a job?
If a need exists it is exploited for that purpose.
To trade him next month. They could get a low level prospect for Civale. They’re not getting anything for Vaughn. In the meantime, they get five innings every five days..
What else you gonna get for Vaughn ? He’s being paid 6 mil to be the worst player in mlb this year. Never even heard of a 44 wRC+ lol
That looks bad on Jerry Reinsdorf more than Andrew Vaughn.
See last year’s Javy Baez.
I am somewhat surprised that the White Sox grabbed him and not a contender. Maybe they think they can give him some starts, get him some successful outings then resell him at deadline for more than they gave up? Just a weird situation.
You just answered your own question. It’s not a weird situation at all; it actually makes complete sense for the White Sox.
They were going to non-tender Vaughn anyway, so the worst case scenario is that they got rid of him sooner and added a veteran source of innings to make it through the year. The best case scenario is that he pitches well enough that they can trade him for an actual prospect.
That’s exactly what they’re thinking. He should get about 6-7 starts before the deadline. If he even looks decent? They’ll flip him for a prospect or two, with getting rid of Vaughn being the added bonus. Win-win for the Sox.
I did not expect to see Andrew Vaughn going the other way
Exactly the type of guy who can have a resurgence in Milwaukee. Surprised also
From your lips to God’s ear…would be great for the Brewers and for Andrew if he could remember how to hit, but the evidence indicates that he might not be very good.
How do you remember how to be what you have never been?
Milwaukee should send Vaughn to Arizona to work on his swing in the lab
Vaughn: 610 games. Negative career WAR. Best season 1.1 WAR.
To have a resurgence, wouldn’t one need to have surged at some point?
With an org like the Sox?
Im not saying Vaughn will become some amazing hitter, as Im not sure he has the strength to do it, but I can say being in a shitshow org like the Sox you likely develop a lot of apathy, Hopefully a change of scenery will do him good.
Sometimes it’s more important to get rid of someone than who you get in return. Extending a contract to Vaughn for this year was a mistake. This trade resolves their mistake.
Even on the struggles it’s a great get for stearns off this absolutely.
3 comments talking about Sterns ..and you really want us to think you know baseball?
Total brain fart can you name every gm in the game today?
If there was only some device available that would be able to instantly tell someone information just by typing a question……
Hard to believe Vaughn was the best offer out there. Nobody expected MIL to get much value for Civale, but CWS were looking for anybody to take Vaughn off their hands. Yesterday I jokingly said I could see MIL sending him to the A’s for Seth Brown. That’s basically what they did.
In this day and age, never be surprised when someone goes the other way lol
Seems like the brewers could have gotten a little more out of Civale than the worst player in baseball this year lol.
Sox should be able to flip him at the deadline for something.
I’m surprised too. I had thought Vaughn would’ve been an interesting fit prior to getting Hoskins. But with Hoskins and Bauers and the catchers also being 1B capable, this is a head scratcher for a team without a need there and looking to contend. Any fan knows 3B is the giant sucking hole on the team at the moment. A starting pitcher for a bench bat? WTF?
Vaughn likely will never play for Milwaukee. This was about he Brewers accepting a bad contract to even up salary a bit.
Milwaukee is paying all of Civale’s contract (Vaughn’s plus the added $) just so they can non tender Vaughn at years end. Great trade!
I like the change of scenery for Vaughn! Maybe platooning by the end of the season
Think second worst after Tim Anderson.
Be careful what you ask for.
I don’t get why people have an issue with the move.
Civale wanted to start – understandable being a walk year.
Brewers honored the request and trades him.
Kind of funny it’s the CWS, but I think he can start for the CWS, they can flip him at the deadline and get some prospect back and everyone wins.
Feels like the Brewers should’ve just asked for cash. Don’t need a negative WAR position player taking up space on this roster. Maybe he gets released?
Vaughn is down at AAA. He will probably be injury depth.
Milwaukee saves about $2m between the salary differences and when they DFA Vaughn. They did basically trade for cash.
Except they also sent cash to CHI.
Yeah, that was reported after I posted.
They probably want to get a quick look to see if he can be fixed before they trade Hoskins. If he does well? He may be their starting 1b for the stretch run. If not? They release him.
…or weak-side platoon for lf/1b top-prospect Tyler Black. Brewers could look to trade Hoskins and possibly move on from Bauers. Would save them quite a bit, including Hoskins $4m buy-out 2026 mutual option.
Ryhs is still owed about $10m this season and Bauers is in arb2.
They deserve each other
Good riddance to Vaughn. This makes my week.
agreed!
He was always way overhyped
Vaughn has always needed out of Chicago. The clubhouse is full of individuals playing for themselves and nobody cares about winning. Vaughn isn’t that guy. Hopefully, he can turn it around and become the player a third overall pick is expected to be.
Ooofffff…. Happy birthday Aaron Civale!
I rest my case on clubhouse cancer.
Still don’t understand why MIL moved him to the bullpen. There are starters all over baseball trying to get back to “career norms” after a rough stretch.
Woody is coming back soon fastball Freddy prester Jacob misroski Josh Patrick Nestor Cortez coming back soon and Logan Henderson in the minors yeah don’t let the door hit ya were the horse bit ya.
Wow, another one to the white sucks who could have predicted that
A competent staring pitcher plus the shipping off of Andrew Vaughn is a win/win for the white Sox! It’s been long believed that Vaughn could be DFA’d and no one would claim him. Sox are glad to get anything of value.
Brewers must be looking at Vaughn’s BABIP (.217), EV and HH%, and thinking he’s due for some better luck.
Vaughn practically can’t be much worse than he is now, but I still don’t get the move from the Brewers’ perspective. Weren’t there really no better offers than this one? They could – and perhaps even should – have waited before trading Civale.
Gruß,
BSHH
And if they can stash him in the minors, it’s a low cost shot at a 5th OFer.
They must see something, but it involves a lot of squinting.
Brewers cooked them!!!!
I wouldn’t describe him as a “substantial upgrade” to the starting rotation of Houser, Smith, Cannon, Martin, Burke. But four of those are young pitchers who cannot be counted on for a large workload, and Cannon is currently on the IL. That team can use the depth where they can find it. I believe Civale has a higher FIP than any of them
ChiSox can flip Civale at the deadline. If he pitches well this would be a net positive for the White Sox.
Vaughn is going to break out with Milwaukee. I’m thinking like a Jeremy Burnitz type power surge.
That would be nice…
But if any First baseman is going to be joining the Brewers from Nashville this year, it will be Black of Martinez., barring catastrophic injury.
This is probably the White Sox getting back at us for Capra, lol
Civale was making $8m and Vaughn is making $5.8m. Milwaukee saves a little and will probably DFA vaughn.
WTF happened to Vaughn? He looked like a can’t miss. Tremendous deal for the Sox getting a SP whom they can flip at the deadline for a guy with a 44 wRC.
Sox culture ate him from the inside. From drunk LaRussa to preening “stars” like Robert, he was wrong guy wrong time and it destroyed him.
Video game numbers in College, then they rushed him to the bigs to play for an alcoholic who hated rookies on a team who only cares about personal numbers and who found out they will get paid no matter how good or bad they are. Moncada, Robert, Anderson…they all went directly into the tank at roughly the same time.
Vaughn was also a guy that was affected.
Hopefully, it isn’t too late to resurrect that hit tool he’s always had his entire life.
Trust me on this one.
Starting to look like the NBA. Players demanding trades and calling the shots.
No it’s not. You hear about an mlb player requesting a trade maybe once a year. In the nba, it’s over and over again. Not even close.
I don’t know why, but the use of “ghastly” to describe Vaughn’s BABIP made me laugh.
Him and Devers and start a diva club
The article indicates one more year of control. But IIANM, he is currently in AAA, and a team could gain an additional year of control. Not that they would necessarily want it though
What team wants to give Vaughn a raise on top of his current salary? He won’t make it to arbitration.
Who said anything about a raise? If a team wants him next season, they will give him whatever his market rate is. Then, if in fact he has another year of control by virture of having been sent to AAA, that team can have him another season. I don’t think it matters much either way. Was mostly pointing out the article may be incorrect.
The drawback is, the most the Brewers can cut Vaughn’s salary is by 20%, making it a $4.75m gamble if they want to keep him and hope whatever they teach him in 2025 carries over to next year.
Nice trade chip for Chicago and you give away a lingering headache.
Winner Winner Chicken Dinner for the Brew Crew.
Brewers couldn’t get rid of him fast enough. He could have kept his mouth shut and maybe been in a pennant race this summer. But, he doesn’t care, he ‘s getting paid.
What good is it to be in a pennant race if you don’t feel like you are a part of it? Personally, I would rather start for a team that misses the playoffs than do mop up duty for a playoff team.
Who said he’d be relegated to mop up duty? He could have easily gotten 40-50 innings in 1 or 2 run games in middle relief, and still been viable.
Most guys see even that as a demotion. He is betting on himself in his free agent year to maximize his next contract. You don’t do that by pitching 40 innings of middle relief. That gets you a one year deal or even a minor league deal with a ST invite. Starting can get you a 3-4 year deal. As volatile as the career of a pitcher can be, I don’t blame him one bit for wanting to maximize his earning power.
40-50 innings as a solid middle reliever is worth less than 80-100 innings as a back of the rotation starter, and with how the starting pitching market has played out the last few years, even being mediocer is going to get him paid. Matt Boyd got a 2 year, $27 million deal and hasn’t started more than 15 games since 2019. A middle reliever isn’t going to get anywhere near that sort of money.
Do you think teams are just going to forget he was a starter? Jordan Hicks, who never started, got signed to be a starter. Civale would have too.
Jordan Hicks also can hit 100+ MPH out of the bullpen and has experience in high leverage. Civale can’t say the same. There’s a big difference between a multi-inning/middle inning reliever and one who can handle higher leverage.
I think a more apt comparrison would be someone like Mike Soroka, who signed for only 1 year/$9 million, Trevor Williams’ first contract with the Nats after he was used as a swingman/long reliever with the Mets in 2022, and only signed for $13 million over two years. Those are still decent contracts, but Matt Boyd, Frankie Montas, Alex Cobb, and Patrick Sandoval are all making more as much as Soroka, or more than Williams.
Preller slept in this morning. Missed opportunity to offload Wandy Peralta.
The winner of this trade is Vaughn.
The Brewers is a net 0. Get rid of an unhappy player, still have pitchers, have a backup(?) first baseman (I assume they agree to Rhys’s mutual option at the EOY – it’s up to Rhys if he stays. As a fake GM I’d feel better about it if Vaughn was still actively playing the OF too.)
The White Sox can start Civale and flip him in July (that’d be my goal) or decide to resign him EOY, or let him walk.
If I’m Civale I’m working my butt off to get to a better team either by the end of July or EOY.
There is a 0% chance Milwaukee picks up Rhys option man. Far too much money and Milwaukee has a top prospect in Black ready to handle 1b. Assuming they are hoping Vaughn can be a weak-side platoon. If not he is a DFA candidate.
There is a less than zero chance that Milwaukee will tender a 6 million dollar contract to Vaughn this offseason.
And Black has a SLG of .245 and an OPS of .561 in AAA. Not sure I would call him a “top” prospect or ready to handle anything.
Exactly all why I didn’t say Milwaukee won the trade.
How is Vaughn the winner? The worst team from last year just sent him to the minors, labeling him as one of the causes. And now he’s becoming a journeyman AAAA player, who won’t be getting a raise next year, and will have to find another team. Please explain what I am missing.
Vaughn gets to leave a terrible situation now rather than later. The ChiSox completely botched his development just like they did with Gavin Sheets.
Look how Sheets is hitting in San Diego.
The craziest outcome of this trade would be Vaughn finally turning into a productive player, similar to Sheets this year with San Diego
That’s exactly what’s going to happen. Brewers will fix him and he’s going to be a productive 1B option for them.
The White Sox have given Vaughn every opportunity to excel and he has had declining production each season. Getting anything for Vaughn is a win for the White Sox.
100% truth, but no one is going to excel on the Sox without a complete overhaul and getting players who care about winning and losing. Is it a coincidence Moncada (can’t miss), Robert (can’t miss), Sheets (can’t miss), Anderson (stud who fell off a cliff), and Vaughn all missed at the same time? Sox culture is pay us and we don’t give two s***s about winning or losing. That’s a horrible culture to have.
Hard to gauge value. Cle to tampa for Manzardo. Tampa to mil for gregory barrious, a AA shortstop ranked as17th best prospect and mil to CHI for a middling first baseman. Still he will get millions in free agency.
Good move for the Sox. Civale can be flipped at the deadline if he continues to pitch well and, if not, Vaughn was dead weight anyway. Civale can at least eat innings while the Sox’ top pitching prospects work on finding their command.
Kudos to Milwaukee finding Civale a new team to continue as starter. Sox absolutely thieved Milw here. (Continual theme with recent Brewer trades) Sox will trade Civale again at deadline to a team in playoffs and get something better in return.
Maybe this can boost Ortiz’ moral not being the worst hitter on Milw getting consistent ABs. Writer missed that Daz Cameron could easily be moved when Vaughn is added to Milw as a bench bat.
FO-Aaron you’ve been traded to Chicago
AC-Great! I’d love to pitch for the cubs and in the playoffs!
FO-no no Aaron not that Chicago
AC-you mean?
FO- Yep! Now beat it
This might be a sneaky good move for the Brew Crew. Vaughn is a former top 100 prospect with pop on the right side of 30. Brewers will most likely use him to the platoon advantage against LHP. This move also makes Rhys Hoskins, an obvious trade chip, expendable. Could see them flip Rhys to a larger market (because of his salary) for a bullpen arm. Boston, Seattle even Philly make some sense.
The Brewers get an inexpensive replacement for Hoskins and Civale gets a chance to start and possibly be traded again at the deadline if he pitches well enough. There’s no real losing this trade for either team
If Civale plays his cards right and performs well this next month, Cubs might just trade for him.
Kinda thought he was on his was back to Cleveland. He might end up taking a ride on the red line now.
I love the update that Brewers do not plan on using Vaughn in the outfield.
Not sure this newsflash falls under in depth scouting or top notch journalism.
I hear they quashed the shortstop rumors as well!
Despite Wsox strong pitching pipeline, you can never have too pitchers.
If he does well, he won’t be in the team for long. If he doesn’t, he can be a placeholder until Schultz rediscovers his command. Sox win either way.
What bothers me is that the Sox will probably fumble again and get nothing for Civale when the time to flip him comes. They notoriously over- value their guys, will demand something outrageous for these castoffs, teams will balk at their demands, and then they’re stuck with nothing. There will be no jewels or lottery tickets handed out for a demoted starter, anyway.
Civale is at worst returns a lotto ticket, they could always resign him in FA.
I get it from a Sox perspective, try to showcase a starter you can flip at the deadline, while taking some pressure off your pen and young arms. However, I don’t get where Vaughn fits in Milwaukee. Yes, Hoskins is leaving, but Vaughn is already paid more than most teams would like. If he was making the minimum I’d get it but unless he comes up and tears the cover off the ball, pretty much guaranteed non-tender.
That is my thought as well. There is a better chance of the Brewers picking up Rhys Hoskins’ option than in tendering Vaughn a 5 or 6 million dollar contract. They didn’t even save any money since they sent cash too. Seems like it would have been easier to just release Civale.
The Sox were going to non-tender him so this looks like a good “why not give it a try” deal for both teams.
Well if Civale wanted to be traded to a contender, this only delays that slightly and he will get his wish in a few weeks. No way the Sox will hold onto him unless he pitches so bad that no team wants him.
Vaughn gone, once a top 10 prospect I believe. The list of players the White Sox have ruined is astounding. Moncada, Eloy, Tim Anderson, Luis Robert, Vaughn. Good luck to Vaughn, he might be able to salvage an MLB career by getting away from this trainwreck. Sheets has far less talent than Vaughn and is doing ok with the Padres, so the Brewers might be quite happy they made this deal in a year or so.
Why does everyone always talk the side of the team ruining the player? Perhaps it was the players that ruined the team instead.
Two 6 packs of Johnsonville beer brats were also part of the deal going to Chicago
Also going back to Milwaukee 2 large Tavern style pizzas
Interesting that the Brewers have a pitching lab and couldn’t fix Civale, so my guess is he’s just a terrible pitcher, as his metrics prove.
He was fine last year, limited playing time this year due to injury. Not a terrible pitcher, as his career metrics actually prove.
Sox have taken Hauser and Smith from the Brewers and made them much better. Maybe the Brewers, like literally every other team, don’t always unlock the best in everyone.
Vaughn was once a top 100 prospect and high 1st round pick. Maybe a change of scenery will get him going and resurrect his career
Makes no sense for CWS thinking that Civale has value otherwise the Brewers would have moved him for a better return. The CWS aren’t going to contend and can just trot out AAA arms the rest of the season. I would have rather seen Vaughn moved for a position player in Milwaukee MiLB specifically an OF prospect or a pitcher that has potential upside and just control issues. .
That’s a good take. Hard to see how the Sox would get all that much in return for Civale, unless Civale performs really well the next 6 weeks, since Vaughn himself isn’t worth all that much. But then again, nothing the Sox do makes any bleeping sense. At least they will have a different owner even if it takes a decade. Can’t wait for the 2035 season LOL!
Vaughn is worthless.
Is Aaron Civale the Jimmy Butler of baseball?
Good luck Andrew, this will work out well for you.
Great trade by both sides. The WS have 7 weeks to turn Civale into a useful SP. Except for salary, they have almost no downside. Mil gets rid of a player that had requested a trade, save a few bucks, and get a lottery ticket on next year’s open 1B job.
Best case scenario for the CWS is they get a mid-tier prospect at the deadline. Knowing them it will be another middle infielder to go with the 8 they have on the roster and in the pipeline.
The more lottery tickets you have, the greater your chance of success.
#5 starter at best complains about losing his rotation spot on a playoff bound team…then gets traded to the worst team in the AL where he’ll be their #2…everyone wins! Brewers don’t need this loser
At least he’s still a MLB player furthering his career, dirtbagbaseball.
dirt post = Severe Projectionitis.
Seems to be an idiotic knee jerk trade by the Brewers. There are plenty of pitching desperate teams and the Brewers end up with a way below replacement level first baseman and nothing else. A really poor front office move by Milwaukee in my book.
It’s not like Civale is some all-star pitcher. He’s a #5 starter, maybe #4 at best, that’s about to hit free agency. The return isn’t going to be much.
It’s not like they’re giving up anyone important but hard to see the logic in trading for a rental when they are on pace to lose 108 games.
A proven starting pitcher for a career negative WAR DH who isn’t a very good fit?
I have no doubt they could have gotten more, but I have a feeling that as a giant middle finger to Civale, the only teams the Brewers would have traded him to were the Whities, Marlins, Rockies, Pirates etc.
Kind of the polar opposite of a partial no-trade situation. Send him anywhere he wouldn’t want ro go.
W Sox need to draft another 1baseman. Elko is a minor leaguer as well. He’s currently peaked.
I’d rather let Elko play everyday until the end of the year and see what if he may pan out verses trotting Vaughn out there everyday.
What a weird trade.
On the surface, yeah. Hard to see where the benefit is for the Brew Crew, so the only explanation is that their development guys think that they can unlock a little something for next season when Rhys is gone.
Milwaukee always has to be careful with the payroll so they look at someone like Vaughn as a former premier prospect and figure that the 20% chance that they can unlock just a part of that potential could give them a cheap 1B option next year.
How is it weird in your opinion?? Civale asked for a trade and the brewers got a former top 100 prospect who’s a 1B which they need in time for next year
Lol Civale requests a trade away from the brew crew and hopefully he is very happy with his new team. lol
Good work Brewers. Doing the right thing.
lol at the internet tough guys. Too funny.
Not sure why any fan would be upset about this. Dude asked for a trade.. He got one.
The Brewers might save a little money on the move. I will be surprised if Vaughn plays for the Crew.
In the end, this is kind of a big nothing move. But it does open the door for Misiorowski. He looked pretty good last night.
Vaughn has to consider himself the luckiest man in the world right now. To get away from this organization can only help anybody’s career.
Yet Whitley goes to the Rays for cash…..the difference between two organizations. Whitley is already at his floor after being a touted prospect and the Rays are just trying to see if they can recapture some of the potential. If CWS needed pitching they could have done this deal also!
I love this deal for the White Sox. If Civale continues to pitch reasonably well, he could be a decent trade chip near the deadline.
Civale = FAFO
Crappy deal for Brewers unless they see something in Vaughn they can change for the better.
Civale either pitches well, and is flipped (for ANYTHING), thus freeing Chicago of the salary and potentially bringing something back, or he pitches poorly but the White Sox still get a functional arm to eat up innings in a non-contending season.
The Brewers save no money, and are far less likely to be able to flip Vaughn for anything. He’s shown no sign of being valuable to a contending team (including the Brewers) and will likely be non-tendered at season’s end.
Maybe Civale’s stock is at an all time low but it seems hard to believe at least one team wouldn’t ship an actual lottery ticket to the Brewers in exchange for him, If that’s true, he may be in for a rude awakening in the free agent market, and find himself, like Heaney and Quintana, forced to take a last minute deal next spring.
I tend to believe Vaughn will figure it out eventually.
One should think so. Milwaukee seems like a better environment to do that than Chicago.
White Sox organization is easy to mock. But they have been really impressive at bringing in and developing pitching over the last several years. The Angels, Marlins, and Rockies are all in these positions where they are rarely the worst team, but still have no chance at competing because there is nothing they do well organizationally. The White Sox meanwhile have turned pitchers into a young core with Thorpe, Teel, Montgomery, Meidroth… obviously they aren’t there yet but a perfect place for a guy like Civale to rebuild his value for the trade deadline and free agency next year.
Punishment!
I can’t believe that this is the best the Brewers could get for a SP. The ChiSox will get much more at the deadline when they flip Aaron Civale
I’m a WS fan but also want a championship for the city. Send Civale and Houser to the North side. I think with those two bottom of the rotation guys and a legit closer they have a chance.
This is actually a reasonable trade for both teams. All best to each guy.
Vaughn always puts up good at bats, the balls just not falling through, he will do well in Milwaukee, the Brews won this one. Our Sox need batters too.
Vaughn gets 6$mm? Why? That’s $18 per avg war past 3 yrs. Does he have some compromising photos?
This is the funniest response by a team to a player they wanted to send a message to since the Mariners sent Bret Boone down to MiLB many many many years ago.