Andrew Vaughn

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Chicago White Sox #1 prospect in 2021
  Hitting: 60. Power: 60. Running: 30. Fielding: 50. Arm: 50.
  
  TRACK RECORD: By the time he left California, Vaughn had established himself as one of the nation’s most decorated college baseball players. He was a part of USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team as both a freshman and a sophomore, where he teamed with future White Sox prospects Nick Madrigal and Steele Walker (since traded). He won the Golden Spikes Award as the nation’s top college player his sophomore year, then followed by hitting .374/.539/.704 as a junior for the Golden Bears. The White Sox used the third overall pick on Vaughn in 2019 and signed him for $7,221,200. He spent most of his professional debut at low Class A Kannapolis and high Class A WinstonSalem, where evaluators were impressed by the amount of hard contact he made despite numbers that might not jump off the page. He spent the 2020 season at Chicago’s alternate training site in Schaumburg, Ill.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: When Vaughn joined the White Sox, the team wanted to install a concrete, day-to-day routine that would help him manage the grind of professional baseball. He settled on one that featured a front-flip drill designed to keep his legs underneath him during his swing, and evaluators inside the organization say it has helped him become a better hitter. Vaughn does an excellent job keeping his upper and lower halves synced throughout the course of his swing. He gets the barrel to the zone quickly and keeps it there. Vaughn knows when he can do the most damage and works each at-bat to get himself into those situations. The combination of his swing and approach allows him to make consistent loud contact and drive balls from line to line. He projects to hit for a high average and for plus power, with his physical frame and natural strength yielding high-velocity rockets off the bat that carry out to left and left-center field. Vaughn has shown a minor weakness against changeups from righthanders, but that may be a sample size issue that will work itself out once he gets regular at-bats in game settings. Defensively, Vaughn continues to hone in his footwork around the first base bag. He played some third base at the alternate site, but he’s a well below-average runner with limited range and remains a first baseman long-term. He projects to be an average defender in time with an average arm.
  
  THE FUTURE: Vaughn is ready for his first taste of the upper levels and could get a shot at the majors late in 2021. No matter when he arrives, Vaughn has the look of a classic masher ready to take the reins from Jose Abreu.
• 
  Ranked Chicago White Sox #2 prospect in 2020
  TRACK RECORD: Vaughn started to open evaluators' eyes after his sophomore season, when he earned a spot on USA Baseball's Collegiate National Team and won the Golden Spikes Award. He carried that momentum into his draft year, when he hit .374/.539/.704 for California. The White Sox drafted him with the third overall pick, signed him for a bonus of $7,221,200 and then let him get his feet wet as a pro at both levels of Class A.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: The White Sox were drawn to Vaughn because of a simple, powerful swing that allowed his barrel to stay in the zone for a long time. Combined with excellent strength and bat speed, Vaughn projects as a classic masher who could produce average and power in the middle of an order. It's easy to envision him slotting into a lineup that includes Yoan Moncada, Tim Anderson, Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez come 2021. If he succeeds, he'll have done his part to strip away the stigma associated with spending a high draft pick on a first baseman who both hits and throws righthanded. Vaughn is agile and has solid hands, so he should be a capable defender.
  
  THE FUTURE: Because of his advanced pedigree, Vaughn should make his debut in the upper levels in 2020. Though a return to high Class A Winston-Salem to start the year, like Robert and Nick Madrigal did in 2019, isn't out of the question.

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #3 prospect in 2019 draft
  Vaughn put up one of the best offensive seasons in Cal history in 2018, hitting .402/.531/.819 with 23 home runs (tying a single-season school record previously set by Xavier Nady in 1999) to win the 2018 Golden Spikes Award. That campaign proved Vaughn had arguably the best combination of hit and power tools of any prospect in the 2019 draft class. And while Vaughn had a quiet summer with USA Baseball's Collegiate National Team in 2018, hitting just .224/.316/.367 in 10 games, he still has an excellent wood bat track record, as evidenced by his .308/.368/.654 slash line in the Cape Cod League last summer. Vaughn has an idyllic righthanded swing with the requisite bat speed and strength needed to allow scouts to peg him as a plus hitter with 80-grade raw power. He takes a professional approach to batting practice and works the ball to all fields before games, rather than simply pulling the ball and trying to hit home runs as often as possible. In games, however, Vaughn has no issues going over the fence to the right-center field gap or turning on pitches inside with easy impact. In addition to his feel for the barrel and ability to hit with authority, Vaughn has an uncanny understanding of the strike zone. His batting eye rivals any player in the country, and as a sophomore he walked 44 times compared to just 18 strikeouts. He has continued to walk at an impressive rate in 2019, and he's still walking more than he's striking out, although his strikeout rate is up as well. Still, Vaughn's advanced feel to hit, power and plate discipline should allow him to become an impact hitter in the middle of a major league lineup, while also allowing him to rise through the minors quickly. Standing at 6 feet, 214 pounds and being a righthanded hitter and thrower, Vaughn doesn't have the typical profile of a top-five pick. In fact, only four right-right first baseman under 6 feet tall have played more than 20 games in the majors since the integration era began in 1947. In spite of that, Vaughn's bat is special enough to give him a chance to become the highest-drafted college first baseman since 1996, when the Twins took San Diego State first baseman Travis Lee with the No. 2 overall pick. Teams might be critical of Vaughn's defense because he is undersized for the position, but he moves well and has solid hands. While he's unlikely to ever be a Gold Glove defender, he should be more than capable of handling the position and making all the routine plays.

Top 100 Rankings

• Ranked Baseball America's #21 prospect in 2021
• Ranked Baseball America's #30 prospect in 2020

• March, 2021 Scouting Report
  Hitting: 60. Power: 60. Running: 30. Fielding: 50. Arm: 50.
  
  TRACK RECORD: By the time he left California, Vaughn had established himself as one of the nation’s most decorated college baseball players. He was a part of USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team as both a freshman and a sophomore, where he teamed with future White Sox prospects Nick Madrigal and Steele Walker (since traded). He won the Golden Spikes Award as the nation’s top college player his sophomore year, then followed by hitting .374/.539/.704 as a junior for the Golden Bears. The White Sox used the third overall pick on Vaughn in 2019 and signed him for $7,221,200. He spent most of his professional debut at low Class A Kannapolis and high Class A WinstonSalem, where evaluators were impressed by the amount of hard contact he made despite numbers that might not jump off the page. He spent the 2020 season at Chicago’s alternate training site in Schaumburg, Ill.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: When Vaughn joined the White Sox, the team wanted to install a concrete, day-to-day routine that would help him manage the grind of professional baseball. He settled on one that featured a front-flip drill designed to keep his legs underneath him during his swing, and evaluators inside the organization say it has helped him become a better hitter. Vaughn does an excellent job keeping his upper and lower halves synced throughout the course of his swing. He gets the barrel to the zone quickly and keeps it there. Vaughn knows when he can do the most damage and works each at-bat to get himself into those situations. The combination of his swing and approach allows him to make consistent loud contact and drive balls from line to line. He projects to hit for a high average and for plus power, with his physical frame and natural strength yielding high-velocity rockets off the bat that carry out to left and left-center field. Vaughn has shown a minor weakness against changeups from righthanders, but that may be a sample size issue that will work itself out once he gets regular at-bats in game settings. Defensively, Vaughn continues to hone in his footwork around the first base bag. He played some third base at the alternate site, but he’s a well below-average runner with limited range and remains a first baseman long-term. He projects to be an average defender in time with an average arm.
  
  THE FUTURE: Vaughn is ready for his first taste of the upper levels and could get a shot at the majors late in 2021. No matter when he arrives, Vaughn has the look of a classic masher ready to take the reins from Jose Abreu.
• December, 2020 Scouting Report
  Hitting: 60. Power: 60. Running: 30. Fielding: 50. Arm: 50.
  
  TRACK RECORD: By the time he left California, Vaughn had established himself as one of the nation’s most decorated college baseball players. He was a part of USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team as both a freshman and a sophomore, where he teamed with future White Sox prospects Nick Madrigal and Steele Walker (since traded). He won the Golden Spikes Award as the nation’s top college player his sophomore year, then followed by hitting .374/.539/.704 as a junior for the Golden Bears. The White Sox used the third overall pick on Vaughn in 2019 and signed him for $7,221,200. He spent most of his professional debut at low Class A Kannapolis and high Class A WinstonSalem, where evaluators were impressed by the amount of hard contact he made despite numbers that might not jump off the page. He spent the 2020 season at Chicago’s alternate training site in Schaumburg, Ill.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: When Vaughn joined the White Sox, the team wanted to install a concrete, day-to-day routine that would help him manage the grind of professional baseball. He settled on one that featured a front-flip drill designed to keep his legs underneath him during his swing, and evaluators inside the organization say it has helped him become a better hitter. Vaughn does an excellent job keeping his upper and lower halves synced throughout the course of his swing. He gets the barrel to the zone quickly and keeps it there. Vaughn knows when he can do the most damage and works each at-bat to get himself into those situations. The combination of his swing and approach allows him to make consistent loud contact and drive balls from line to line. He projects to hit for a high average and for plus power, with his physical frame and natural strength yielding high-velocity rockets off the bat that carry out to left and left-center field. Vaughn has shown a minor weakness against changeups from righthanders, but that may be a sample size issue that will work itself out once he gets regular at-bats in game settings. Defensively, Vaughn continues to hone in his footwork around the first base bag. He played some third base at the alternate site, but he’s a well below-average runner with limited range and remains a first baseman long-term. He projects to be an average defender in time with an average arm.
  
  THE FUTURE: Vaughn is ready for his first taste of the upper levels and could get a shot at the majors late in 2021. No matter when he arrives, Vaughn has the look of a classic masher ready to take the reins from Jose Abreu.
• July, 2020 Scouting Report
  TRACK RECORD: Vaughn started to open evaluators’ eyes after his sophomore season, when he earned a spot on USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team and won the Golden Spikes Award. He carried that momentum into his draft year, when he hit .374/.539/.704 for California. The White Sox drafted him with the third overall pick, signed him for a bonus of $7,221,200 and then let him get his feet wet as a pro at both levels of Class A.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: The White Sox were drawn to Vaughn because of a simple, powerful swing that allowed his barrel to stay in the zone for a long time. Combined with excellent strength and bat speed, Vaughn projects as a classic masher who could produce average and power in the middle of an order. It’s easy to envision him slotting into a lineup that includes Yoan Moncada, Tim Anderson, Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez come 2021. If he succeeds, he’ll have done his part to strip away the stigma associated with spending a high draft pick on a first baseman who both hits and throws righthanded. Vaughn is agile and has solid hands, so he should be a capable defender.
  
  THE FUTURE: Because of his advanced pedigree, Vaughn should make his debut in the upper levels in 2020. Though a return to high Class A Winston-Salem to start the year, like Robert and Nick Madrigal did in 2019, isn’t out of the question.
• February, 2020 Scouting Report
  TRACK RECORD: Vaughn started to open evaluators' eyes after his sophomore season, when he earned a spot on USA Baseball's Collegiate National Team and won the Golden Spikes Award. He carried that momentum into his draft year, when he hit .374/.539/.704 for California. The White Sox drafted him with the third overall pick, signed him for a bonus of $7,221,200 and then let him get his feet wet as a pro at both levels of Class A.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: The White Sox were drawn to Vaughn because of a simple, powerful swing that allowed his barrel to stay in the zone for a long time. Combined with excellent strength and bat speed, Vaughn projects as a classic masher who could produce average and power in the middle of an order. It's easy to envision him slotting into a lineup that includes Yoan Moncada, Tim Anderson, Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez come 2021. If he succeeds, he'll have done his part to strip away the stigma associated with spending a high draft pick on a first baseman who both hits and throws righthanded. Vaughn is agile and has solid hands, so he should be a capable defender.
  
  THE FUTURE: Because of his advanced pedigree, Vaughn should make his debut in the upper levels in 2020. Though a return to high Class A Winston-Salem to start the year, like Robert and Nick Madrigal did in 2019, isn't out of the question.
• August, 2019 Scouting Report
  Vaughn put up one of the best offensive seasons in Cal history in 2018, hitting .402/.531/.819 with 23 home runs (tying a single-season school record previously set by Xavier Nady in 1999) to win the 2018 Golden Spikes Award. That campaign proved Vaughn had arguably the best combination of hit and power tools of any prospect in the 2019 draft class. And while Vaughn had a quiet summer with USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team in 2018, hitting just .224/.316/.367 in 10 games, he still has an excellent wood bat track record, as evidenced by his .308/.368/.654 slash line in the Cape Cod League last summer. Vaughn has an idyllic righthanded swing with the requisite bat speed and strength needed to allow scouts to peg him as a plus hitter with 80-grade raw power. He takes a professional approach to batting practice and works the ball to all fields before games, rather than simply pulling the ball and trying to hit home runs as often as possible. In games, however, Vaughn has no issues going over the fence to the right-center field gap or turning on pitches inside with easy impact. In addition to his feel for the barrel and ability to hit with authority, Vaughn has an uncanny understanding of the strike zone. His batting eye rivals any player in the country, and as a sophomore he walked 44 times compared to just 18 strikeouts. He has continued to walk at an impressive rate in 2019, and he’s still walking more than he’s striking out, although his strikeout rate is up as well. Still, Vaughn’s advanced feel to hit, power and plate discipline should allow him to become an impact hitter in the middle of a major league lineup, while also allowing him to rise through the minors quickly. Standing at 6 feet, 214 pounds and being a righthanded hitter and thrower, Vaughn doesn’t have the typical profile of a top-five pick. In fact, only four right-right first baseman under 6 feet tall have played more than 20 games in the majors since the integration era began in 1947. In spite of that, Vaughn’s bat is special enough to give him a chance to become the highest-drafted college first baseman since 1996, when the Twins took San Diego State first baseman Pat Burrell with the No. 2 overall pick. Teams might be critical of Vaughn’s defense because he is undersized for the position, but he moves well and has solid hands. While he’s unlikely to ever be a Gold Glove defender, he should be more than capable of handling the position and making all the routine plays.
• December, 2018 Scouting Report
  Vaughn put up one of the best offensive seasons in Cal history in 2018, hitting .402/.531/.819 with 23 home runs (tying a single-season school record previously set by Xavier Nady in 1999) to win the 2018 Golden Spikes Award. That campaign proved Vaughn had arguably the best combination of hit and power tools of any prospect in the 2019 draft class. And while Vaughn had a quiet summer with USA Baseball's Collegiate National Team in 2018, hitting just .224/.316/.367 in 10 games, he still has an excellent wood bat track record, as evidenced by his .308/.368/.654 slash line in the Cape Cod League last summer. Vaughn has an idyllic righthanded swing with the requisite bat speed and strength needed to allow scouts to peg him as a plus hitter with 80-grade raw power. He takes a professional approach to batting practice and works the ball to all fields before games, rather than simply pulling the ball and trying to hit home runs as often as possible. In games, however, Vaughn has no issues going over the fence to the right-center field gap or turning on pitches inside with easy impact. In addition to his feel for the barrel and ability to hit with authority, Vaughn has an uncanny understanding of the strike zone. His batting eye rivals any player in the country, and as a sophomore he walked 44 times compared to just 18 strikeouts. He has continued to walk at an impressive rate in 2019, and he's still walking more than he's striking out, although his strikeout rate is up as well. Still, Vaughn's advanced feel to hit, power and plate discipline should allow him to become an impact hitter in the middle of a major league lineup, while also allowing him to rise through the minors quickly. Standing at 6 feet, 214 pounds and being a righthanded hitter and thrower, Vaughn doesn't have the typical profile of a top-five pick. In fact, only four right-right first baseman under 6 feet tall have played more than 20 games in the majors since the integration era began in 1947. In spite of that, Vaughn's bat is special enough to give him a chance to become the highest-drafted college first baseman since 1996, when the Twins took San Diego State first baseman Travis Lee with the No. 2 overall pick. Teams might be critical of Vaughn's defense because he is undersized for the position, but he moves well and has solid hands. While he's unlikely to ever be a Gold Glove defender, he should be more than capable of handling the position and making all the routine plays.