ARLINGTON, Texas — With the trade Friday of first baseman Andrew Vaughn and cash to the Brewers for right-hander Aaron Civale, only center fielder Luis Robert Jr. remains from the 2021 White Sox team that won the American League Central.
‘‘When I got the job, Andrew was the first player I called,’’ Sox manager Will Venable said. ‘‘Just knowing his history here, his reputation for being a leader in the clubhouse and the importance of him to this organization. He was awesome for the players, awesome for the staff.’’
General manager Chris Getz saw an opportunity to shore up the depth of the Sox’ rotation with the trade. Venable said Civale, who asked to be traded after the Brewers moved him out of the starting rotation, will start Sunday against the Rangers.
Civale, who was 1-2 with a 4.91 ERA in five starts spanning 22 innings this season, gives the Sox an innings-eater who can ease the workload on their young starters. The Brewers get the chance to see whether they can extract more out of Vaughn than the Sox did.
Vaughn, the No. 3 pick in the 2019 draft, leaves the Sox with 77 home runs and 293 RBI in 610 games over five seasons. Of the players drafted in the first round after Vaughn, six have become All-Stars. He was batting .189/.218/.314 in 48 games this season before being sent to Triple-A Charlotte on May 23.
‘‘We do wish Andrew well,’’ Getz said. ‘‘He’s been a leader in our clubhouse. He’s been productive. It’s my job to look out for the health of this organization, and we feel like this was a move to really support that.’’
Tim Elko will handle the bulk of the first-base duties. Once infielder Lenyn Sosa (strained flexor in right hip) returns from the injured list — he started a rehab assignment Friday at Charlotte — he’ll be another option.
Vaughn finished his Sox tenure with a -0.4 WAR. The team had a stretch from 2015 to 2019 in which it drafted pitcher Carson Fulmer, catcher Zack Collins, infielder Nick Madrigal and Vaughn in the top 10. None of those players is with the organization.
It’s ultimately on Vaughn for why his career petered out in Chicago, but the Sox deserve criticism for his lack of development. As the team endures yet another rebuild, Getz reflected on what went wrong with Vaughn, who went directly from A-ball to the majors.
‘‘[Vaughn] has been a productive major-league hitter at times,’’ Getz said. ‘‘To the level of which the organization was hoping for or Andrew was hoping for, perhaps not. He was working through the COVID-19 years in which you were limited in regards to playing and getting at-bats at the minor-league level.
‘‘Being thrust into the major-league level at a young age without too much of a foundation, it’s fair to assume that perhaps limited his production at times.’’
It’s important that Getz, who was the Sox’ director of player development in 2017-20, learns from the Sox’ struggles in the draft.
‘‘So much of our focus has been on improving our process throughout the organization,’’ Getz said, ‘‘whether in acquisition, development or all avenues of baseball operations.
‘‘When you get opportunities at the top of the draft or to sign top international talents, you need to prioritize and create some objectives for our group to work through to select players that we feel like we’re going to develop at a high level and can be productive major-league players.’’