Former Kentucky baseball star Evan White looking for fresh start with Los Angeles Angels
When the Seattle Mariners made Evan White the 17th overall pick in the 2017 MLB draft, it appeared he was destined to become the greatest position player to ever come from the University of Kentucky and that he might even challenge Brandon Webb and James Paxton as the best overall Wildcat in MLB history.
Six years later, White was traded from Seattle to Atlanta as a salary dump, with the team also giving up promising young outfielder Jarred Kelenic and left-handed pitcher Marco Gonzales in exchange for pitching prospect Cole Phillips and right-hander Jackson Kowar.
White was then outrighted off Atlanta's 40-man roster and sent to the Los Angeles Angels, where a fresh start in a new organization might help him get his career back on track as he enters his age 28 season.
So what happened?
White was incredible at Kentucky, appearing in 159 games across three seasons and racking up 233 hits, 51 doubles, 17 home runs, 109 RBI, and 18 stolen bases while slashing an incredible .356/.414/.527.
He made his way through Seattle's farm system as a highly regarded prospect, lauded primarily for his elite defense at first base, high-contact approach, and what many regarded as developing home run power.
Coming off a 2019 season at Double-A, where he hit .293 with 18 home runs in 92 games, White signed a six-year, $24 million extension with Seattle - becoming a very rare player to sign a contract bypassing arbitration before ever playing in a major league game. These contracts are unusual due to the high-risk nature, and White is, unfortunately, an example of why teams tend to avoid them.
White did make the big leagues the following year, in the COVID shortened 2020 season. He appeared in 54 of Seattle's 60 games but completely faltered, managing just a .176 batting average with eight home runs while striking out a whopping 41.6% of the time.
He was given another shot in 2021, but after hitting .144 in 30 games, he was replaced at first base by Ty France - and from there, injuries reared their ugly head.
White appeared in just 28 games in 2022 and two in 2023, all at Triple-A, with surgery on his hip, a sports hernia, and a groin tear all keeping the first baseman off the field.
That led to Seattle choosing to send him, and the $17 million remaining on his contract, to Atlanta as a way to save some money.
Atlanta understandably sent White elsewhere, as they are set at first base with superstar Matt Olson, and now he will return to the AL West with the Angels, who started Nolan Schanuel at first base in the last month of the season despite drafting him earlier that summer.
White should compete for immediate playing time with the Halos, an opportunity he wasn't going to get in Atlanta, and might even get a crack at playing against his former team in Seattle if all goes well in spring training.
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