On Friday morning, Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline reported that the Seattle Mariners had reached an agreement with first baseman Evan White. The 6-year, $24MM deal comes with three club options — meaning that the Mariners have control over the 23-year-old for the next nine seasons.
It would appear that White, the clubs No. 3 prospect in our 2020 rankings, having accumulated just 18 at-bats above Double-A, will be the Mariners starting first baseman when the team takes the field for Opening Day on March 26 against the Texas Rangers.
If you remember back to last off season, the Chicago White Sox inked their top prospect, Eloy Jimenez, to a big-league-deal prior to him making his MLB debut. And, the Philadelphia Phillies did the same thing in 2018 with their infielder-turned-outfielder, Scott Kingery. Here’s a look at all three of those deals — given to players who, at the time, had zero big-league appearances.
Evan White: 6-years, $24MM
Eloy Jimenez: 6-years, $43MM
Scott Kingery: 6-years, $24MM
Why make this decision?
For the Mariners, this seems to be a no-brainer. They have an up-and-coming prospect that they control until his age-32 season. Known mostly for his glove, White has developed into an above-average hitter. He’s not the Pete Alonso type hitter. He’s more of a gap-to-gap guy. However, prior to last season, the University of Kentucky product had 14 home runs in 138 minor league games. Last season, playing in just 92 games due to injury, he belted 18 homers. Clearly there is some pop there, and perhaps he’s just now starting to find it.
Our own Alex Jensen is very high on White, saying that he’s a “legitimate five tool first baseman capable of having five 60-grade tools.”
For White, this is all about financial stability now, not necessarily for the long haul. It’s easy to speculate how much more money he could have made had he waited until he accrued some big-league experience. But guys still have to perform at a high level to reap those financial rewards — and that’s never a guarantee.
Since reports claim that the deal could reach the $50MM mark, let’s assume that the deal maxes out. Here’s a look at a handful of other first baseman and how they fared financially over their first nine seasons.
Eric Hosmer: $71.1MM
Freddie Freeman: $68.7MM
Brandon Belt: $48.9MM
Joey Votto: $46.0MM
Logan Morrison: $18.1MM
While I understand that age plays into this — the bottom-line is that even if the offense is average and the defense is slightly-above average, it’s a great deal for Seattle. And on the flip side, look at some of those names. Is White going to be the next Freeman? Not likely. Is he going to be the next Hosmer? Who knows.
What we do know is this — the deal is a win for the Mariners. And rather than say it’s a bad deal for White, at least for now, get excited to see the Mariners first baseman of the future. Looking at those names on the list, this deal isn’t as bad for White as many might claim.
Belt and Votto have been staples on their respective teams since entering the league and, with this deal, White has the chance to earn more money than they did during their first nine seasons. That should not be over-looked.
If you aren’t too familiar with what White brings to the pacific northwest, take some time to read up on our full report…