Mariners first baseman Evan White recently suffered a Grade 2 groin strain and will be out of action for the next two months, per Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times.
This news is the latest in a series of frustrating setbacks for a player who was once a highly-touted youngster. Selected 17th overall in the 2017 draft, White thrived in the lower levels of the minors and got himself onto Baseball America’s top 100 list in 2019 and 2020. It was in that time, November of 2019, that he and the club agreed to a six-year, $24MM extension. It was a vote of confidence in a young player who had yet to crack the majors but seemed on the verge of a breakout after hitting .293/.350/.488 in Double-A.
White was promoted to the big leagues in 2020 but struggled in his first taste of the majors, hitting .176/.252/.346. He also struck out in 41.6% of his plate appearances over 54 games in the shortened season. Since that time, White hasn’t been able to play much at all due to injuries, requiring hip surgery and sports hernia surgery. He played just 34 games in 2021 between Triple-A and the majors, then just 28 Triple-A games last year.
Here in 2023, White came into spring healthy, but the club optioned him to the minors. Since Ty France had taken over the first base job in his absence, it made sense for White to get everyday reps in Tacoma to get back into a groove after so much missed time. But now, after just a couple of games with the Rainiers, White is facing yet another significant stretch of time on the shelf.
Should the two-month timeline prove true, that will still give White a few more months to finish the season strong, though it’s surely not ideal or welcome for him to hit another speed bump after already going over so many. This won’t have an immediate impact on the big league club, but it does subtract from their first base depth, which could be an issue if France deals with an injury as the season goes along.
White’s contract runs through 2025 with three club options beyond that. The first of those is a $10MM option for 2026 with a $2MM buyout. As of right now, the odds of White being worth that kind of investment seem low. He still has a few years to change that perception, though that will have to wait at least another couple months.
I think its time for the Mariners to give up here. No need for him on the payroll when he’s blocked by France and a minor league signing can be as useful. Flip him to the Rockies or something. No point watching the small value left go down even further
There’s no value left on Evan White.
They’re eating every single dollar whether they keep him in the organization or not.
No question there. Although for a team trying to catch the Astros and now potentially the Ranger and Angels, they need every roster spot filled by productive players.
If the Mariners eat every dollar on the contract….what does that really get them? No chance a major league contributor
If eating every dollar is the price required to trade White and open up a roster spot, they should still do it because the Mariners’ window of contention is open.
Who would have thought we’d have a White-out in the middle of April…
It gets them a chance at finding a productive player. How much hope are you really holding out for White at this point?
They could simply DFA white. No need to trade him and eat every dollar.
They could DFA White, but contracts are fully guaranteed.
He’s owed $20MM through 2025, including the $2MM buyout. Still time for him to recover, but I do expect to see more flop extensions in the coming years as they’re being offered more frequently.
Just sad
My question is what constitutes a strain? To have a groin injury and be declared out for two months sounds like more than just a strain. If you’re a guy, imagine if it was you…
This guy has had two sorts of luck. Bad and none.
…if you ignore that he wisely signed a $24MM MLB contract while still in the minors.
A very, very good decision on his part.
……he was offered a $24 M contract based on speculation, there is some good luck there. He signed the contract and assuming he invested well he is set up for life beyond baseball. To think, Kelenic tried to convince him not to sign the contract. If he had listened to his then teammate he certainly would not have had another $24M offer……and for Kelenic, he could have had his own $24M but he bet on himself. The bet isn’t going well.
Kelenic would’ve gotten closer to double if he signed a pre-MLB extension.looks like a dodged bullet.
Yeah actually Dipoto was trying to sign Kelenic on a similar contract as White and right at White about the same time period. Kelenic rejected the Mariners offer because he was looking at massive dollar signs. Thank God for Seattles sake!!!
I just think of the words in a funny old song:
“If it wern’t for bad luck,
I’d have no luck at all.”
Gloom, despair and agony sort of sums things for the Mariners all across the board right now.
Maybe I jinxed them back when I was raving that 2023 would be the Mariners’ big year . . .
Deep, dark depression, excessive misery. Jeez. I think I saw this being performed on Hee Haw like, 50 years ago
Yup.
Fun fact, D-backs manager Torey Lovullo’s dad was a long-time Producer of Hee Haw.
Well that was random!
You sure did Fred, now take it all back.
Lee, I can, I will, and I do take it all back.
I guess if jinxes can be reversed, this might do it.
Give him some time. He’s still developing. Simply some natural groin pains.
It could be worse. Imagine having White, Adalberto Mondesi, and Nick Senzel in the same organization.
He might be a DFA candidate when Seattle needs to open up a spot on the roster. Highly unlikely a team claims him with the money he’s still owed, and if they did, well, Seattle would lose another former first round pick, but at least they’d have enough dough for another…. Pollock?
Nuts.
Yeah nobody is going to touch Evan white. He should be the next man on the DFA train.
Watched Evan play regularly in college. Has plenty of talent. Hope he can get healthy and turn things around for his career.
Some people just don’t have the strength in their physique, the “bottom” as it is called sometimes. A player either has it or he doesn’t and you can’t tell by looking at him.
I fear that for all his talent, Evan White is one of these.
I think offering the contract was the worse thing could of done to advance his career. Now he has no drive to excel. He’s already set for life without stepping foot on a MLB field.
Yes, there is that aspect to consider.
We don’t always consider it.
Set for life.
As a guy from Alabama I served in the Navy with used to say,
“He cut a fat hog right across the ass.”
Or maybe he was from Texas. One of those places where people are not afraid to just speak right out.
Time to call the Brewers for Tellez for Juan Pinto and Tyler Locklear
That’s not an unreasonable ask but Evan white wasn’t playing 1B for Seattle. This doesn’t impact the MLB team at all.
Lost an insurance policy but he didn’t look like a very good one anyway.
I have already given up on him.
Ichiro should teach Evan White how to stretch and what discipline is. What a bust!
Because every player’s body is the same and Evan isn’t athletic?
Honestly, it’s pretty impressive they have a contract worse than Cano’s
This is just the cost of doing business with early career extensions. More often than not they’re worth it but there will always be an Evan White, Jon Singleton, or Jose Tabata mixed in there. I’m sure there will be a few more trickled in as these extensions keep happening.
It’s still a worthwhile gamble for teams if they believe in the player, and we all usually wonder why some guys sell themselves short and sign cheap extensions but there’s a lot of value in having financial security if something like this happens.
Sorry to hear it. Hope he’s able to get healthy enough to play. Lots of bad luck
Use the term “out” loosely.
Sometimes these deals pan out (see Munoz, Andres) and sometimes they don’t. Just cause it’s ending poor it was a good decision by the team at the time.
Left-handed bat, right-handed thrower… don’t see that much.