Andrew Vaughn and White Sox Seek a Turnaround After 2024 Fiasco

The former Cal star was part of the worst season in franchise history last summer when Chicago lost 121 games

Andrew Vaughn / Brian Bradshaw Sevald-Imagn Images

Coming off the worst season in Chicago White Sox history, former Cal star Andrew Vaughn said his goals for spring training include keeping things simple and moving forward from the disaster that was 2024.

“Just trying to build,” he told MLB.com late last month. “I think that’s the biggest thing.”

The White Sox, who slogged through a 41-121 season a year ago, will hold their first full squad workouts one Monday.

“We’re excited to see how this thing’s going to roll,” Vaughn said. “We’re talking about the expectations of spring training, just kind of going in and being open minded and attack the situation.”

Vaughn is entering his fifth major league season. The White Sox announced Jan. 9 they avoided arbitration with Vaughn and signed him to a $5.85 million contact for 2025. He earned $3.25 million last season.

The No. 3 overall pick in the 2019 MLB draft, Vaughn batted .246 with 19 home runs, 30 doubles, 70 RBIs and 55 runs scored in 2024 while posting a career-high 619 plate appearances. He had a slash line of .253/.308/.416 after the All-Star break last season.

Vaughn hopes last season taught him some lessons that can be a benefit this summer.

“When everybody struggles, you learn a lot about yourself,” he said. “I think I fell in love with the process of getting better every day. Just going out there and trying to create positivity, no matter what happened the day before. 

“It could have been an ugly loss or it could have been a win. Just kind of had to flush that, get to tomorrow and make that the day.”

The White Sox play their first Cactus League game on Feb. 22 vs. the Chicago Cubs. He hopes the Sox enjoy a fresh start.

He maintained his usual offseason training schedule although he said he “tweaked” some things at the plate and in the field. 

“I feel like I’ve learned what I’ve done over the past four or five off-seasons and kind of build everything around that,” Vaughn said. “Just kind of took the good things, got rid of the bad things and focused on what I thought was going to be most important.

“The biggest thing was just simplify — not try to do too much. Being simple at the plate, sticking to my routine and just trusting myself, just focusing on what I can control.”

Vaughn, who will turn 27 on April 3, started poorly last season and was batting .153 through 20 games. He didn’t climb over .200 for good until June 4 and never again saw a .250 average.

The White Sox open the regular season March 27 against the Los Angeles Angels.