CHICAGO - Miguel Vargas has become one of the White Sox’s defining stories this season, and the turnaround has been as dramatic as it gets.
Not long ago, the third baseman was staring at a rough 2024 finish in Chicago and wondering whether baseball still fit in his life. Now he’s an All-Star, a central figure in the White Sox lineup, and one of the clearest signs of how far this team has come from 121 losses in 2024 to a winner-take-all Game 5 of the ALDS on Saturday night at Progressive Field.
The contrast is striking, but the people around Vargas say his presence has stayed constant no matter the result.
“He’s a steady presence and doesn’t change for 0-for-10, 5-for-10, 8-for-10,” right-hander Davis Martin said. “He’s a steady presence in our lineup. He’s a steady presence in our locker room.
“If he’s going about his business like a professional, it lets younger guys know, even though you are an All-Star, you still have to come in and do your job. It’s what he does every day.
He makes people laugh. He gets them all relaxed.
He remembers this is a fun game to play and you’re supposed to have fun doing it.”
That steadiness carries extra weight because of where Vargas was after arriving in Chicago. He was traded by the Dodgers on July 29, 2024, then hit just .104 over 157 plate appearances with the White Sox over the final two months of that season. At one point, he seriously considered walking away from the game.
When Vargas was selected as a 2026 AL All-Star, he credited this White Sox group for helping bring baseball back into focus. In a recent conversation with MLB.com, he opened up about how close he came to stepping away.
“Yeah, 100 percent,” said Vargas, when asked if he thought about leaving baseball after 2024. “I got to the last couple of weeks of that year, I sit with my dad and we actually ... it wasn’t the first time talking about not playing. It’s just a hard moment.
“I’m happy and glad that I have people on my side to not let that happen for me. Definitely was a dark moment, and yeah, thank God I listened to my dad and I got another shot.”
His father, Lázaro Vargas, knows the game well. A star in Cuba, he won Olympic gold medals in baseball in 1992 and 1996. He has long been a trusted voice for Miguel, and that conversation carried real weight when the younger Vargas was trying to figure out whether he had anything left beyond the game.
One thing that made the decision so difficult was the simple question of what came next.
"I don’t know. It was so easy to stop playing, but I don’t have an answer to what I wanted to do,” Vargas said.
“This is what I have done my whole life. I don’t know how to do anything else.
So, I think that was the scary part. This is what I’ve done my whole life.
This is what I want to continue to do.”
The White Sox are certainly glad he kept going.
On Thursday in Game 4, Vargas hit a homer off Guardians closer Cade Smith to lead off the ninth in a 9-5 loss, sparking a short push that forced starter Gavin Williams into the game. That matters because Williams is expected to have a major role on the mound for Cleveland in Game 5, and the 18 pitches Vargas coaxed from him could end up being significant.
Vargas also reached base three more times as Cleveland handled him carefully, another reminder of how much damage he can do. He brings speed that could translate to 20 steals, enough power to reach 30 homers and 30 doubles, and strong defense at third.
And if the baseball ride weren’t enough, there’s more good news in his life. His Minnesota Vikings are 4-0, and the fantasy football team he co-operates with Sam Antonacci just picked up its first win.
“A lot of good things are happening for me in my life,” a smiling Vargas said. “I’m very happy about it.”
What he wants most now is one more White Sox win and a chance to keep this run going into the ALCS against the Rays.
“I haven’t talked about it in a long time, but I have no words to describe this moment,” he said. “I thought the moment was going to take us so long to be here and get this opportunity.
“It was so quick and so fast. I didn’t even have time to sit down and see what I have done and what this team has done this year. Hopefully, at the end of the year, I can sit and actually enjoy.”
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White Sox Get One More Shot At A Guardians Gamble
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Williams has already been a problem for the White Sox in this matchup, and now he gets the rare task of coming back on short rest to start the biggest game of the season. For Chicago, the challenge is straightforward even if the path is not: solve a familiar arm, survive a hostile crowd and find a way to keep a season alive in a game where every pitch feels like it could swing the series. [Read more 🡒]