I am not saying he’s a good OF, but using his OF skills to diminish his value is not fair.
He was drafted to be a 1B, was expected play 1B exclusively, and literally learned how to play OF on the fly, in his first season in MLB. Not to mention, his time in the minors to hone his hitting craft was non-existent. The fact that he had to learn how to hit MLB pitching, essentially skipping the minors, while playing a position nothing remotely close to the 1B tells me how much better he might been offensively last season if he could have just concentrated more on hitting. Or you know, spent a full year in the minors above A ball, to concentrate on hitting. It also tells me what kind of hitter he can become in the following seasons. The fact that he’s a hard worker and seems to have decent baseball intelligence also bodes well. I know this stuff has been repeated a lot in his defense, but it shouldn’t be understated.
Three of the best hitters in White Sox history have been RH 1B/DH types. If the guy can hit like many believe he can, no one will be complaining about his position or handedness.
A lot of White Sox and fans of other teams are clamoring to give Castellanos contracts up to 5/100. Castellanos realistically shouldn’t be classified any differently than a slow RH 1B/DH type. And at age 23, posted a “pathetic” .721 OPS and 1.3 bWAR. Vaughn is under control for the next 5 years for pennies. Trading him and not getting another cost controlled elite talent that fills a hole (SP) is pointless, short sighted and will be a mistake. Maybe trading him at all will be a mistake.
I just don’t agree at all that Vaughn’s rookie season revealed anything negative about the dude’s talent or value.
Again, he’s not untouchable by any means, but the way some posters are just casually throwing his name around in trades just for the hell of it is odd.
And for Tray’s question, no, I would not trade him for Bellinger. That’s silly.