Seattle Mariners sign Double-A player to record deal
The Seattle Mariners made waves in the baseball world Friday after signing one of their prospects to a record deal.
Evan White, the No. 4 prospect in the Seattle Mariners organization signed the first long-term extension for a player at the Double-A level. He signed a 6-year, $24 million deal which could max out at around the mid-$50 million range.
White, who plays first base, spent all of this past year at the team’s Double-A affiliate, the Arkansas Travelers in the Texas League. He was also the 17th pick in the 2017 draft. He is expected to be the Mariners opening day starter at first base barring any kind of terrible Spring Training.
Now there have been several instances of minor league players receiving large extensions, but until now they all had at least some Triple A experience. The most recent examples being the Eloy Jimenez of the Chicago White Sox and Scott Kingery with the Philadelphia Phillies.
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White has a total of three seasons under his belt in the minor leagues and through those three years is slashing .296/.361/.471 with 32 home runs and 133 RBI’s in 906 at-bats. The average is definitely there and the power is as well.
Unfortunately a small sample size of three minor league season. I get the point the Mariners want White to succeed, but I feel jumping him from Double-A straight to the Majors may be doing him a big disservice. It seems like they are setting him up to fail.
I would want him to spend some time with my Triple-A team and see how he acclimates to that environment before placing him on the biggest stage in the world. He needs time to continue to develop his game.
King Felix deserves another shot. dark. Next
To be honest it’s not like the Seattle Mariners are going to do anything anytime soon. They are not a great team and thus have time to wait. I get that they see White as a big part of that future, but I sincerely believe it is too much too soon.