The Los Angeles Dodgers announced that Tyler White has been outrighted to Triple-A Oklahoma City and re-invited to Spring Training as a non-roster invitee after clearing waivers.
White was designated for assignment this past week to make room on the 40-man roster for Mookie Betts, David Price, Brusdar Graterol and Luke Raley after the Dodgers’ pair of trades with the Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins.
In addition to White, Kyle Garlick was also designated for assignment, but L.A. was not able to retain the outfielder as he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for Minor League pitcher Tyler Gilbert.
The Dodgers claimed White off waivers from the Houston Astros last July, but he only played a handful of games with the team before going down with a right trapezius strain that ended up being season-ending.
In 26 plate appearances for the Dodgers, White had just one single, hitting .045/.192/.045 with a pair of RBI. Overall in 83 games between the Astros and Dodgers last year, the 29-year-old batted .208/.308/.304 with three home runs and 23 RBI. White’s best season came in 2018 when he hit .276/.354/.533 with 12 home runs and 42 RBI in 66 games with Houston.
After David Freese retired at the conclusion of the 2019 season, it was thought that White could potentially fill his role as a backup first baseman and right-handed bat off the bench. He even lost a significant amount of weight and got in good shape in preparation for the 2020 season.
White was out of Minor League options though, so if the Dodgers did not designate him for assignment then he would’ve had to make the Opening Day 26-man roster. Now that he has cleared waivers, White can begin the season with OKC and eventually work his way back up to the big leagues if he has success at the Triple-A level.
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