The Milwaukee Brewers are going to the World Series for the first time since 1982 — and back then, they still played in the American League.
They swept the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night in a 4-0 domination in the NLCS. To take out the back-to-back defending champs like that shows just how good the Brewers are.
Milwaukee has a lot of people, teams and players to thank for reaching this point, but the Chicago White Sox can be on the list for a thank you card.
That’s because the White Sox previously traded the Brewers their slugger Andrew Vaughn.
Chicago has done just fine in becoming a contender even without Vaughn, who never reached his potential in the Windy City.
But a move elsewhere in the Midwest has worked wonders for Vaughn, who’s now one of the Brewers’ top hitters.
They’re waiting to see whether they’ll take on the Cleveland Guardians (2-1 ALCS lead) or Tampa Bay Rays in the Fall Classic.
In the meantime, White Sox fans can wonder what might’ve been with Vaughn.
White Sox-Brewers Trade
The White Sox and Brewers agreed to this key trade on June 13, 2025.
The Brewers acquired Vaughn from Chicago.
The White Sox got Aaron Civale and cash in return from Milwaukee.
Andrew Vaughn With White Sox
Vaughn was supposed to be a star.
The White Sox drafted him with the No. 3 overall pick out of Cal in the 2019 MLB Draft.
Maybe he was only going to be a first baseman long term, which does put more pressure on the bat, but it sure seemed like his bat was good enough.
Vaughn never found his way at the plate with the White Sox, though.
There were some signs of promise. He had a .705 OPS in 127 games as a rookie (22 doubles, 15 homers), then raised it to .750 in 2022 (28 doubles, 17 homers in 134 games).
Vaughn was solid again in 2023, with 30 doubles and 21 homers in 152 games for a .743 OPS.
But then it declined to a .699 OPS in 2024 (30 doubles and 19 homers in 149 games), and he fell off entirely in 2025.
Vaughn played 48 games to begin the 2025 season with the White Sox. He batted .189 with a .531 OPS that included eight doubles and five home runs. He struck out 43 times in the 48 games.
That’s when they decided to trade him to the Brewers. The White Sox didn’t feel they had a solution for his struggles.
And then in 64 games with Milwaukee the rest of last season, Vaughn hit .308 with an .869 OPS.
Apparently he just needed a fresh start.
Andrew Vaughn This Season
Vaughn batted .306 during the 2026 season as he played in 104 games. He put up an .834 OPS that included 18 doubles, two triples and six home runs.
His strikeout total was just 53 in 104 games, a much better rate than he ever had in Chicago.
Vaughn hasn’t started every game in this postseason as the Brewers figure out how to get Christian Yelich time at DH as well, but he should play a role in the World Series at the very least when a left-handed pitcher is on the mound for the opposition.
White Sox Trade Helped Brewers Make World Series