Ex-major league infielder Tyler White signs with KBO's SK Wyverns

Sports 10:26 July 16, 2020

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, July 16 (Yonhap) -- Former major league infielder Tyler White has signed with the South Korean club SK Wyverns.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) team announced Thursday that White has agreed to a US$160,000 deal for the remainder of the season.

In this Getty Images file photo from Aug. 1, 2019, Tyler White of the Los Angeles Dodgers returns to the dugout after the end of the top of the first inning of a Major League Baseball regular season game against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. (Yonhap)

KBO clubs are each allowed to sign up to three foreign players, with a maximum two pitchers. The Wyverns are the first team this season to carry two foreign position players and one foreign pitcher, with nine other teams all going with two pitchers and one position player from overseas.

White, who appeared in 256 games for the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2016-2019, is taking the foreign player spot vacated by pitcher Nick Kingham, who was released on July 2 after being limited to two starts due to an elbow injury.

White, the 29-year-old American, will join Canadian slugger Jamie Romak in the Wyverns' lineup that ranks ninth in team batting average (.243), runs scored (233) and on-base plus slugging percentage (.674).

Through 61 games, the Wyverns are in ninth place at 19-42, 13 games out of the fifth and last playoff spot with 83 games left.

White was a 33rd-round selection by the Astros in the 2013 draft and made his big league debut three years later. He had 26 home runs, 103 RBIs and a .236/.315/.409 line in the bigs.

In 282 games in Triple-A, White put up 59 homers, 230 RBIs and a .311/.399/.539 line.

White will have to quarantine for 14 days once he's in South Korea, as per the government mandate on all international arrivals. He's expected to start playing for the Wyverns in mid-August.

White spent the bulk of his big league time at first base, with cameos at second base, third base and left field. Romak is the Wyverns' regular first baseman.