White Sox Avoid Arbitration with Vaughn, Three Others
On Thursday, the White Sox put the arbitration process behind them, agreeing to terms with four players, led by Andrew Vaughn.
The White Sox entered the offseason with nine arbitration-eligible players but opted to trade left-hander Garrett Crochet and cut ties with infielder Nicky Lopez, outfielder/first baseman Gavin Sheets and right-handers Matt Foster and Enyel De Los Santos.
Vaughn agreed to avoid arbitration for $5.85 million. Right-handers Justin Anderson, Penn Murfee, and Steven Wilson also agreed to one-year deals. Anderson inked a $900,000 contract, while Murfee will make $780,000 and Wilson $950,000.
Andrew Vaughn
It’s a good deal for Vaughn who was projected to make anywhere from $4-6 million. The 26-year-old has failed to live up to the hype since being selected third overall in the 2019 MLB draft. The White Sox have not done his development any favors. During his 2021 rookie season, he was asked to learn to play left field, a position he hadn’t played since grade school. A 107 games of shagging fly balls took a toll on Vaughn’s legs as his second-half numbers took a noticeable dip.
The 2023 season marked the first time that Vaughn was able to play his primary position of first base for the bulk of the season. His strikeout rate increased from 17 percent to 21 percent while his batting average dropped from .271 to .258 and his slugging percentage remained the same. However, he did post career highs in home runs (21) and RBIs (80)
The 2024 season was more of the same. In 570 at-bats he slashed .246/..297/.402 with 19 homers and 70 RBIs. Vaughn is the definition of league average. In fact, given his 99 OPS+, he was slightly below league average last season.
Anderson, Wilson and Murfee
The 2024 season marked Justin Anderson’s first with the White Sox after spending the first two years of his MLB career with the Angels. Anderson has accumulated just over three years of service time and is expected to make $1.2 million.
He threw 53.1 innings across 56 appearances for the South Siders, posting a 4.63 ERA. Anderson’s 13.2 percent walk rate caused many of his issues, as opponents only hit .234 off of him. The right-hander did a very good job minimizing hard contact despite a pedestrian 38 percent ground ball rate.
Opponents average exit velocity was just 87 miles per hour, while his whiff rate ranked in the top 19 percent of the MLB. Anderson figures to be a key piece of new manager Will Venable’s bullpen next season.
Wilson struggled last season to the tune of a 5.71 ERA in 34.2 innings of work. The 30-year-old proved he can be an effective reliever in San Diego, posting a 3.91 ERA in 2023 with a career-high 57 strikeouts. He also owned a 3.06 earned run average in 2022 with an expected opponent batting average of just .182.
He was a throw-in during the Dylan Cease trade to give the White Sox some sort of stability in the back end of the bullpen and will look to rebound in 2025.
Murfee was claimed off waivers from the Houston Astros in November. He did not appear in the big leagues last season but pitched for the Seattle Mariners in 2022 and 2023. During that stretch, he went a combined 5-2 with a 2.70 ERA, with 92 strikeouts and 28 free passes across 83.1 innings.