Brewers acquire RHP from Giants

The Giants have traded right-hander Mitch White, who they designated for assignment earlier this week, to the Brewers for cash considerations. Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com relayed the information on X. Right-hander Corbin Martin was designated for assignment to open a roster spot for White, per Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on X.

White, 29, was acquired by the Giants from the Blue Jays a few weeks ago in a cash deal. He tossed 5 1/3 innings for San Francisco but allowed seven earned runs in that time. He had also allowed six earned runs in ten innings for the Jays earlier in the year, so he currently has a combined 7.63 earned run average on the year.

He is out of options and can’t be easily sent down to the minors, which is why he has been designated for assignment twice already this year. But despite the rough start to his season, there are reasons for the Brewers to be interested.

He was once a notable prospect with the Dodgers, with Baseball America ranking him one of their 20 best prospects in five straight years starting in 2017. He pitched 105 2/3 innings for the Dodgers from 2020 to 2022 with a 3.58 ERA, 22% strikeout rate and 8.3% walk rate.

But he hit a rough patch after being traded to the Jays in 2022. He had a 7.74 ERA in 43 innings for Toronto late that year. He wasn’t helped by a .368 batting average on balls in play or 54.3% strand rate, as his 3.76 FIP and 4.70 SIERA were far nicer in that time, but he still went into last year out of options and battling for a role.

He spent time on the injured list in 2023 and then posted poor results out of the bullpen for the Jays in 2023, getting outrighted off the roster. But once in Triple-A, he was stretched back out and finished the year strong. His last seven starts resulted in a 1.89 ERA in 33 1/3 innings, striking out 31.4% of batters faced.

The Jays added him back to their roster to keep him from reaching minor league free agency but, as mentioned, his results haven’t been great here in 2024. Still, there’s enough there for the Brewers to take a chance.

Perhaps he will take over a long relief role in the bullpen, as injuries have pushed Bryse Wilson from that job and into the rotation. White still has less than three years of service time and can be cheaply retained into the future if he keeps justifying his roster spot, though it’s also possible he could be designated for assignment for a third time this year.

Martin, 28, was claimed off waivers from the Diamondbacks last month. Both clubs kept him in the minors and he has a 7.20 ERA in ten innings between their two Triple-A clubs this year. He has ten strikeouts but 13 walks on the year.

The Brewers will now have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers. Injuries have been a significant problem for Martin. He missed most of 2019 and all of 2020 while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Then he required lat tendon surgery last year which prevented him from pitching at all in 2023. Though he was healthy enough to pitch in 2021 and 2022, the results weren’t great, with a 7.28 ERA in the majors and a 6.04 ERA in the minors.

He was once a notable prospect in the Astros’ system, going to Arizona in the Zack Greinke trade. He still can be optioned for the rest of this year and could perhaps attract the interest of another club who felt he could get back on track after shaking off some rust.