Chicago White Sox: 5 things to hope for this season
By Todd Welter
Andrew Vaughn hopes to continue the Chicago White Sox first baseman legacy.
The Sox have had greatness at first base since 2001. Paul Konerko was named the Opening Day starter that year and gave up the starting job after the 2013 season. Jose Abreu took over and manned it until he left the team this off-season in free agency.
Konerko and Abreu combined to make nine All-Star teams and hit 688 home runs. Konerko and Abreu will go down as two of the most beloved players in franchise history.
The Chicago White Sox were forced to let Abreu walk because of a self-imposed salary cap and redundancy of players at first base and DH. The easy choice was to let Abreu walk.
Now it is Andrew Vaughn’s turn to take the baton passed to him and run with it. The former first-round pick has shown promise he is up to the task.
He spent his first two seasons playing out of position in the outfield and it showed. He was a -26.7 defensive WAR player last season. Vaughn gave it his all but moving him back to first base is for the best.
Plus, this move finally puts an end to the uncertainty of how many at-bats he would get. He was also sharing time with Eloy Jimenez and Gavin Sheets in the outfield or at DH along with having to split time with Abreu.
His dynamic bat is guaranteed to get at least 600 at-bats this year. Although, he may have to get some of those at DH since Yasmani Grandal is still on the roster and he will need some days at first when he is not catching.
Vaughn now needs to take the next step in his career like Konerko and Abreu did. He needs to show he can be an All-Star. Vaughn needs to show he can man the position for a decade and be a cornerstone player. He also needs to show he can avoid the IL.
The Sox need Tim Anderson, Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert, and Vaughn to stay healthy to have a shot at winning the AL Central. Those four along with Benintendi form a very potent lineup but it cannot score a lot of runs from the trainer’s room.