After I volunteered to jot down in regards to the Aaron Civale-for-Andrew Vaughn swap, I believed I used to be going to be masking probably the most attention-grabbing commerce of the month. On the very least, I believed I’d be placing out probably the most attention-grabbing commerce write-up of the day. It’s not that Civale and Vaughn are big family names, however you don’t usually see notable main leaguers traded for each other in June. Commerce season isn’t alleged to have began but! I seemed again by means of the FanGraphs archives to seek out items with the “commerce” tag that handled June transactions. I discovered six others:
1. The Phillies acquired Jay Bruce from the Mariners for Jake Scheiner (2019).
2. The Yankees acquired Edwin Encarnación from the Mariners for Juan Then (2019).
3. The Blue Jays acquired Adam Cimber and Corey Dickerson from the Marlins for Joe Panik and Andrew McInvale (2021).
4. The Mariners acquired Carlos Santana for Wyatt Mills and William Fleming (2022).
5. The Rangers acquired Aroldis Chapman for Cole Ragans and Roni Cabrera (2023).
6. The Giants acquired Rafael Devers for Kyle Harrison and Jordan Hicks (2025).
Then, after all, there’s one you’re studying proper now. Of these seven June trades we’ve lined, 4 occurred earlier than the final week of the month: the 2 from 2019 and the 2 from the previous 72 hours.
Do I really feel slighted that mine is now not the largest commerce story of the month, the week, and even the day? That by means of no fault of my very own and no fault of my editors’, my story has been relegated to a secondary place? No, not likely. But when I did, I’d have the ability to relate fairly properly to Civale. Final week, the Brewers knowledgeable the right-hander he’d be transferring to the bullpen. Civale was understandably upset. He’s in his free agent stroll 12 months, and transferring to an extended aid function may diminish his incomes potential within the offseason. What’s extra, apart from one postseason look final fall, he has by no means labored out of the bullpen in his skilled profession. Above all else, he stays a wonderfully succesful back-end beginning pitcher. He didn’t price himself a rotation spot together with his poor efficiency; the Brewers merely had 5 superior choices.
The Brewers traded for Civale final summer time after accidents decimated their rotation. Milwaukee didn’t unlock any untapped potential that the Rays, or the Guardians earlier than them, weren’t capable of uncover, however it received precisely what it wanted from him. He averaged five-plus innings per begin with the Brewers final 12 months from July by means of the top of the common season, and allowed not more than three earned runs in 12 of his 14 begins. He pitched equally properly for Milwaukee in 2025, particularly in case you ignore his first begin of the season, when he was virtually definitely taking part in with an damage. His velocity was down, he gave up three house runs in three innings, and he landed on the IL with a hamstring pressure the very subsequent day. Excluding that outing, he pitched to a 3.48 ERA, 4.61 FIP, and 4.53 xFIP over 18 begins with the Brewers from 2024-25. Nobody would confuse him for an ace, however the main leagues require roughly 150 beginning pitchers at any given time. Civale deserves to be one among them – simply perhaps not with the Brewers.
Certainly, the writing has been on the wall for Civale in Milwaukee because the begin of this season. He got here into the 12 months with a job within the rotation, however it was by no means clear how lengthy that may final. As of spring coaching, the Brewers had 4 starters who, accidents apart, can be forward of Civale on their depth chart: Brandon Woodruff, Freddy Peralta, Nestor Cortes, and Jose Quintana. If there have been ever a degree when all 4 of these arms had been wholesome, that would depart Civale preventing with Tobias Myers for the fifth spot within the rotation. Civale is the extra skilled of the 2, however Myers was glorious in his rookie season and ended up beating out Civale for a begin in final 12 months’s playoffs. As well as, each of them would most likely need to cope with Prime 100 prospects Jacob Misiorowski and Logan Henderson, who had been within the excessive minors and progressing towards a debut someday later within the season.
Issues haven’t precisely gone in accordance with plan for the Brewers. Along with Civale, Quintana and Myers have hung out on the IL, whereas Woodruff and Cortes are nonetheless there. Quintana is again within the rotation, however Myers struggled upon his return and was despatched all the way down to Triple-A in Could. Nonetheless, Civale ultimately discovered himself squeezed out of the image. Rookie Chad Patrick has been surprisingly efficient, as has mid-April commerce acquisition Quinn Priester. When Misiorowski earned his name to the present final week, somebody needed to go, and Civale was the odd man out.
It could be straightforward to border what occurred subsequent as some kind of dramatic falling out: The Brewers disrespected Civale by asking him to maneuver to the bullpen; then, after Civale responded with equal disrespect when he publicly demanded a commerce, the Brewers took their revenge and despatched him to one of many worst groups in baseball. But, I’m glad to have the reputable drama of the Devers commerce to place this all in perspective. The Brewers didn’t signal Civale to a long-term, face-of-the-franchise-type extension with the promise that he can be a beginning pitcher. That they had each proper to maneuver him to the bullpen when he was now not one among their 5 finest beginning choices. Equally, Civale had each proper to be upset. He’s the identical pitcher he was when the Brewers gave up a lottery ticket prospect so as to add him to their rotation final summer time, and he’s the identical pitcher he was after they tendered him an $8 million wage to maintain him of their rotation final winter. He’s a beginning pitcher, and if the Brewers didn’t have a beginning job for him, asking for a commerce was a wonderfully cheap request. The Brewers obliged, and whereas a commerce to the lowly White Sox could possibly be perceived as a punishment, the actual fact of the matter is Civale will get to begin in Chicago. Even higher, if he succeeds with the Sox, there’s a robust probability he’ll be pitching for a contender once more in one other six weeks.
It’s fairly clear what the White Sox are gaining from this association. Reality be instructed, their rotation has been higher than you may assume, due to an All-Star-worthy efficiency by Shane Smith, a stable displaying from Davis Martin, and the latest success of Adrian Houser and Mike Vasil. Nonetheless, Smith is a rookie, Martin has already surpassed his earlier profession excessive in innings, and Houser’s observe file and Vasil’s underlying metrics recommend they’re each due for some critical regression. In the meantime, depth choices like Sean Burke, Jonathan Cannon, and Bryse Wilson haven’t seemed promising. Even the dwellers of the dingiest basements want innings, and the White Sox can be glad to have a veteran like Civale to assist them protect their bullpen and keep away from blowout losses. If he pitches properly sufficient, they will flip him for a prospect forward of the deadline, very like they had been absolutely hoping to do with Martín Pérez earlier than he injured his elbow. If not, at the very least the White Sox can proceed to run him out each 5 video games to fill the innings they should fill in one other shedding season. He got here as marketed in his debut, tossing 5 innings of two-run ball, placing out 4 and strolling 4 in a 2-1 loss to the Rangers.
From the Brewers’ perspective, they had been capable of get one thing again for a pitcher they now not had a job for and who subsequently now not needed to be there. That’s a win. Along with Peralta, Quintana, Patrick, Priester, and Misiorowski, the Brewers have DL Corridor and Aaron Ashby within the bullpen, Woodruff and Cortes working their manner again from damage, and Henderson and Myers at Triple-A. Giving up Civale continues to be a success to their depth (you may by no means have an excessive amount of pitching), however it helps with flexibility. They didn’t want one other lengthy man within the bullpen, they usually can now use that energetic roster spot on an optionable arm as an alternative. As well as, the Brewers obtained some bench depth, which they wanted greater than pitching depth, and slightly little bit of wage aid. The distinction between the remaining salaries of Civale and Vaughn for the season is roughly $1.24 million, and Milwaukee reportedly despatched $807,000 to the White Sox as a part of the deal. Which means the workforce offloaded roughly $430,000 in wage. That amount of cash ought to be negligible to a significant league workforce, however then once more, it’s solely been a few years because the Brewers spurned their ace by taking him to arbitration to save lots of about $750,000.
As for Vaughn, the previous third-overall choose and high prospect within the White Sox group is sort of sure to be non-tendered this winter. In different phrases, I don’t assume the Brewers are taking him on as a long-term mission. That’s to not say a recent begin can’t assist him; at this level, it could possibly be precisely what he wants. Nonetheless, I’m skeptical this return is about something greater than including a bench piece and offsetting Civale’s wage – although I’d be very completely happy for Vaughn if he proves me improper.
Over his first 4 years with the White Sox, Vaughn was roughly a league-average hitter, slashing .253/.310/.415 with 72 house runs in 562 video games. These weren’t simply disappointing numbers from a former high prospect; they had been virtually unplayable numbers for a fielder who racked up -18 OAA at first base and -23 OAA within the outfield corners. Merely put, such a poor defender at even the positions furthest down the defensive spectrum must be greater than a league-average bat to warrant a spot in a beginning lineup.
Sadly for Vaughn, issues solely received worse in 2025. He hit .189/.218/.314 with a 44 wRC+ over his first 48 video games earlier than he was optioned to Triple-A. The excellent news is his struggles had been extra the results of powerful luck than the rest. Previous to his demotion, just one certified AL hitter had a decrease BABIP, whereas his .321 xwOBA was virtually equivalent to the .319 mark he posted in every of the final three seasons. The most important trigger for concern was his meager 3.6% stroll charge, however the truth that he’s already walked 10 instances in 15 video games within the minors means that was most likely only a small-sample-size fluke, too. He has a profession 97 wRC+, and that’s the form of manufacturing I’d anticipate from him once more when he makes his manner again to the majors. The dangerous information for Vaughn is the Brewers don’t have a roster spot for him. Christian Yelich is sort of completely taking part in DH this season in an try and maintain him wholesome, and Milwaukee already has Rhys Hoskins at first base and Jake Bauers seeing time at first and within the nook outfield spots. The Brewers are absolutely hoping they don’t must name up Vaughn in any respect. Nonetheless, an skilled hitter with a league-average bat and a faint glimmer of former top-prospect upside is hardly the worst factor to have saved away in case of damage.
After six years within the White Sox group, Vaughn will hope a change of surroundings can do him some good. If he thrives at Triple-A Nashville, he may find yourself contributing to a postseason race. In the meantime, few gamers are extra used to altering surroundings at this level than Civale, who has now been traded thrice in lower than two years. That is the primary time he hasn’t been traded to a contender, and the primary time he hasn’t been in a corporation with an important repute for pitching growth, however he’ll get to proceed beginning ballgames for a workforce that basically wants him. So, this may not be the largest commerce of the month, however it’s the commerce that makes probably the most sense for all concerned.
