Cal Baseball: Andrew Vaughn Unlikely to be Impacted by Cuts at Minor League Level

Former Cal star was given a franchise-record signing bonus by the White Sox last year

Teams throughout the Major Leagues this week began releasing prospects in a cost-cutting move with the increased likelihood there will be no minor league baseball this summer.

What does that mean for former Cal star Andrew Vaughn, who was set to begin his second season in the Chicago White Sox system?

Well, besides the prospect of a baseball-free summer, it may not mean a lot.

The White Sox this week announced they will continue to pay stipends to minor leaguers at least through the end of June. That includes players who recently were cut.

This guarantees young players a minimum of $400 a week for the next month. At least 10 franchises made similar pledges.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the allowances were a pay raise for many players, with minimum salaries ranging from $290 per week at Class A to $502 per week at Triple-A over the five-month season.

Four teams -- the Twins, Reds, Royals and Astros -- have committed to pay minor leaguers for the entire year, with no player releases.

But it’s not the weekly stipend that should give Vaughn — and his friends, family and fans — reason to exhale.

Vaughn is a valued prospect with the White Sox, who used the No. 3 overall pick in last year’s amateur draft to select the 2018 college national player of the year.

The White Sox gave Vaughn a franchise-record $7.221 million signing bonus last year, so the weekly stipend is not a significant piece of Vaughn’s financial picture.

The result is the White Sox organization will protect Vaughn, with the hope he emerges as a productive Major League player in a couple seasons.

Obviously, not having a 2020 minor league season won’t help Vaughn’s development, but his association with the White Sox franchise is not in jeopardy.

Vaughn was batting .304 in the White Sox major league spring training camp when the coronavirus pandemic shut down sports in mid-March.

The Oakland A's drew nationwide criticism early in the week when they announced they would not pay any minor leaguers beyond May 31.  Two days after that, on Thursday, hundreds of minor leaguers reportedly were released throughout baseball.

We talked a couple weeks ago with Vaughn about the prospect of no baseball this summer. Here's part of that conversation: 

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo

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