White Sox third baseman Miguel Vargas has gone from afterthought to centerpiece in Chicago’s turnaround, and the numbers tell the story. The former top prospect, paired with newcomer Munetaka Murakami, helped power an offense that finished fifth in scoring during the regular season, while Vargas posted career-best marks across almost every offensive category.
What makes the season stand out even more is how close it came to never happening.
Vargas told Scott Merkin of MLB.com this week that he seriously thought about walking away after the 2024 season, expanding on a subject he had already mentioned earlier in the year.
“ 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,” Vargas said. “ It’s just a hard moment.”
The path to that point was rough. Vargas was traded from the Dodgers to the White Sox at the 2024 deadline and never really got comfortable in Los Angeles. He finished that season batting just .104 in 42 games with Chicago, and across both teams he put up 237 plate appearances with a rough 47 wRC+.
“ 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.”
He’s made the most of the bounce-back. In 2025, Vargas was an everyday player for the first time and delivered a .717 OPS, then took another step this season with 33 home runs and 106 RBIs. He ranked 16th among qualified hitters with a 134 wRC+ and added 22 stolen bases to round out a strong all-around campaign.
That production has carried into October, too. Through six playoff games, Vargas has posted a .464 OBP, fueled by nine walks, and he hit his first postseason homer Thursday in Game 4 of the ALDS.
Around the division, the Tigers made a series of staff moves this week, according to Evan Woodbery of MLive Media Group. Head athletic trainer Ryne Eubanks and assistant trainer Chris McDonald will not return next season. Detroit also moved on from minor league director of operations Peter Bransfield, outfield and baserunning coordinator Arnie Beyeler, and mental performance coordinator Aaron Lewis.
In Kansas City, the Royals got a key step forward on their new ballpark plans. Mayor Quinton Lucas said the town council approved financing for a stadium at Crown Center, the shopping complex near downtown Kansas City.
In a statement, Lucas called it a move toward a “ transformational baseball-centered district that delivers for residents, workers, and neighborhoods. ” The Royals have been at Kauffman Stadium since 1973.
In Other News...
Royals Face Two Big 2027 Questions After Bobby Witt Jr. Dip
A season review of the Royals on Joel Penfields podcast landed on the same theme that has hovered over the club for months: there was enough good to believe in, but not enough consistency to feel settled. Penfield pointed to bright spots throughout the roster, especially the emergence of Carter Jensen, Jac Caglianone and Michael Wacha, as reasons the year still offered something to build on even as injuries and uneven production kept the team from fully taking off.
Still, the conversation kept circling back to the pressure points that will shape 2027. Bobby Witt Jr.s offensive dip loomed over everything, and Penfield framed the offseason as a chance for Kansas City to patch obvious roster holes while waiting for its star to rebound. The bullpen remains a concern, center field is unsettled, and the Royals path forward feels tied to whether Witt can get back to the level that makes the rest of the lineup fit together. [Read more 🡒]
Royals Prospect Is Giving Fans More Reason To Believe In The Future
The Royals keep collecting little reminders that the future picture in Kansas City is getting clearer, and the latest comes from the farm system. Brendan Gawlowski of FanGraphs dug into Angeibel Gomez and came away encouraged by the young infielders bat-to-ball ability and athleticism, a combination that has become easy for Royals followers to buy into as the organization keeps layering hope on top of a season that has already produced a few bright spots.
There is still plenty for Gomez to refine, which is part of why the evaluation matters now rather than later. The upside is real enough to matter, and it arrives at a time when the Royals are also seeing positives on the big-league side and watching progress continue around the franchise with city approval advancing for a new downtown ballpark. In other words, there is a lot more here than one prospects report, even if the most intriguing part of the Gomez story is still sitting just out of view. [Read more 🡒]
Royals Future Is Taking Shape But Two Pitching Spots Feel Unsettled
The Royals long-term picture is starting to come into focus around a core built on Bobby Witt Jr., Jac Caglianone, Carter Jensen, Maikel Garcia, Vinnie Pasquantino and Noah Cameron. That group gives Kansas City a much clearer sense of where the lineup and young talent are headed, and it also shows how much the organization is trying to balance the present with the next wave of contributors.
The unsettled part is still on the mound, where the staff has not reached the same level of certainty. Kansas City is still sorting out which arms can be counted on in the right roles, and the broader discussion around the pitching staff now centers on whether the Royals need to make tougher decisions about who fits the rotation picture and who belongs elsewhere on the staff. [Read more 🡒]