The White Sox are set up to be in a very good spot at the trade deadline, as they hold a lot of leverage against teams trying to make a playoff push. From prior reports, it seems that everyone is available for trade, it just comes down to price on some of the better players like Luis Robert Jr. and Garrett Crochet.
One name that has been quiet in trade talks until now is Andrew Vaughn. Vaughn is a very curious case, as he started about as slow as a player can in the beginning of the season, prompting a discussion on whether he should be sent down to AAA.
However, those talks have now been silenced, as Vaughn had a fantastic June and has looked much better at the plate. In June, Vaughn hit .337 with six homeruns and 20 RBIs. That brought his average up to .240 with 11 homeruns and 43 RBIs. He is likely on pace for another 20+ homer 80+ RBI season, which is very good. His numbers could have been even better had he not gotten off to such a slow start.
With his resurgence, he is now showing teams he his back to his 2022-2023 form, which would make a variety of teams interested in his services, as almost every contender could use an extra bat. If 20+ homeruns and 80+ RBIs wasn’t good enough, he still has two years left of team control after this season, so he is more than a rental player.
It is now being reported that the Astros are interested in Vaughn, as Jim Bowden reports the Astros have talked to the White Sox about an Andrew Vaughn trade.
This move would make sense for the Astros, as they currently have a hole at first base after releasing long time White Sox star Jose Abreu earlier this season. Vaughn would fit very well in that lineup and could be extremely valuable to them, as he would only be counted on to be their 5th or 6th best hitter.
It is unclear how willing the White Sox are to moving Vaughn, as he still can give them above average first base play as they navigate their road to contention. However, if they get an offer that they feel is fair, it is likely they would pull the trigger, as it might not take an insane offer like it might for Crochet or Robert.
Unfortunately, the Astros don’t have too much firepower in terms of prospects, as they only have one top-100 prospect on the MLB Pipeline list. That one prospect is Jacob Melton, a left handed outfielder currently in AA. He ranks 68th on the top-100 list, as he is hitting .240 with eight homeruns and 30 RBIs so far this season.
Besides Melton, the Astros have some promising prospects ranked at #2 and #3 in their top three, as it is almost guaranteed that one of them would have to be in a deal for Andrew Vaughn. I’m not sure what the price is for Vaughn, as he isn’t going to be as expensive as some of the other White Sox bats, but the White Sox would likely want a very good haul to move on.
If the deal revolved around Melton, it could get the job done, but I’m not sure if Vaughn holds that type of value for the Astros to make that trade. Chris Getz may be interested in some of their other top 3 prospects, but it remains to be seen if that would be enough for Getz to make a move.
Vaughn is a curious case and if he is moved at the deadline, it will be very interesting what they get in return.
