Meet The New Guys: Tyler White

Former Dodger and Astro Tyler White became the first offseason signing for the Jays who is not a returning player. The primary positioned first baseman agreed to a minor league deal with the team after having played the 2020 season in the Korean Baseball Organization.

White originally came up with the Astros as a top prospect, but his bat never came around in the big leagues. Prior to his debut, White was hitting .362 with a 1.026 OPS and 7 home runs in 213 at bats, looking like a future star. Over four seasons in the MLB however, his stat lines look much different than anyone could’ve expected.

In his major league career White carries a batting line of .236/.315/.409/.725 with 26 home runs in 760 at bats, about a season and a half worth of at bats for a regular starter. His best seasons came in 2017 and 2018, although it is heavily speculated that the Astros were taking advantage of the sign stealing scandal during those years, and without specific players being named in the commissioners report, it remains unclear how White’s performance may have differed in those years. However as a member of the Dodgers in the second half of 2019, White hit for a .045 batting average with 0 home runs in 22 at bats before being released at the season's end.

For the Blue Jays, it remains unclear what the motive was for this signing. The first base position is already blocked by Guerrero, and the DH spot is occupied by Tellez. Although Guerrero has his mind set on a return to third, the comeback doesn’t appear likely, and even if it did, they still have Tellez. Although White has some experience at second, and left field, it really wouldn’t be the best idea to play him at either spot. White will likely begin the 2021 season in Buffalo (assuming the Jays aren’t there again), and will likely only be used as depth should there be an injury to either of the Jays regular first baseman. Even then, he would need a strong minor league season to break the active roster as proven by the failed Daniel Vogelbach experiment in 2020, which ended in a release of a talented player simply because there was no room. It appears that the motive to sign White could’ve been to help lure star free agent George Springer, but with the Mets largely regarded as the front runners, White’s time with the team could be over before it even starts.