Report: Prospect Evan White, Mariners Agree to Historic 6-Year, $24M Contract

The Seattle Mariners and minor league first baseman Evan White reportedly agreed to a six-year, $24 million contract with three club options Friday, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan.

White spent last season with the Double-A Arkansas Travelers, and Passan noted that no player at that level had ever received a long-term extension before in the history of Major League Baseball.

The Mariners selected White with the No. 17 pick of the 2017 MLB draft out of the University of Kentucky, and he put up strong numbers last season in Double-A with a .293 average, 18 home runs and 55 RBI in 92 games.

In 2018, White primarily played High-A ball but also appeared in four Triple-A games. Overall, he hit .300 with 11 homers and 66 RBI that season. With two productive minor league seasons under his belt, White was part of the All-Star Futures Game last season as well.

MLB teams have been trending in the direction of signing players to long-term deals at a younger age in recent years. White is the most extreme example since he has just four career games above the Double-A level, but he is far from the first.

Prior to the start of the 2019 season, the Chicago White Sox signed outfielder Eloy Jimenez to a six-year deal with $43 million in guaranteed money despite the fact that he had never appeared in an MLB game. Jimenez produced, hitting .267 with 31 homers and 79 RBI as a rookie.

The Philadelphia Phillies signed Scott Kingery to an extension last year, and the Houston Astros signed Jon Singleton to an extension in 2014 even though neither had any MLB service time. The jury is still out on Kingery, while Singleton is out of baseball.

The Tampa Bay Rays first popularized the practice when they signed Evan Longoria to an extension in 2008 less than one month into his MLB tenure.

Daniel Vogelbach is Seattle's top option at first base, but since he hits left-handed and White is a righty, it's possible White could find himself in a platoon situation as soon as the 2020 season.