Former top prospects among Crew's signees

December 9th, 2021

MILWAUKEE -- Former premium prospects Garrett Whitley and Jonathan Singleton have signed Minor League contracts with the Brewers as clubs continue adding players to their system during the 40-man roster freeze.

Thursday’s additions -- six players in all -- fell into one of three categories:

1. Signed a Minor League contract with a big league invite.

The Brewers announced that three players who would be in Major League Spring Training camp as non-roster invitees: Whitley, an outfielder, along with catcher Jakson Reetz and right-hander Moises Gomez.

Milwaukee has made a habit so far this winter of acquiring former Rays (infielder Mike Brosseau via trade, catcher Brett Sullivan via free agency), and the latest is Whitley, who was the 13th overall pick in the 2015 Draft and had spent his entire pro career in the Rays system. Whitley split 2021 between the Double-A and Triple-A levels and slashed .229/.338/.444 with 14 home runs, 12 stolen bases and 103 strikeouts in 347 plate appearances. He’s mostly manned center field and left field in the pro ranks.

Reetz, who turns 26 next month, made his Major League debut with the Nationals in 2021 and logged his first two big league at-bats, including a double, but was outrighted from the 40-man roster in September. He has a .337 on-base percentage over seven seasons in the Minors but didn’t hit much in 2021, with a .189/.297/.317 slash line in 300 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A in Washington’s system.

Gomez, 24, reached the Triple-A level last season in Seattle’s system after beginning his professional career with the Twins. He has a power fastball and better than a strikeout per inning over parts of seven seasons in the Minor Leagues.

2. Reportedly agreed to a Minor League deal.

The Brewers didn’t include free agent first baseman Tyler White among their announcements of done deals, but FanSided’s Robert Murray reported on Thursday that they had also agreed to terms with White on a Minors deal with an invitation to big league camp.

White is a right-handed hitter who turned 31 on Oct. 29 and played parts of four seasons with the Astros and Dodgers, hitting 26 home runs with 101 RBIs in 833 plate appearances. His most extensive big league experience came in 2018 with Houston, when he hit 12 homers and slugged .533 in 66 games.

President of baseball operations David Stearns was the Astros’ assistant GM when Houston drafted White in the 33rd round in 2013. White is a career .303/407/.504 hitter in the Minors, including .306/.406/.523 in parts of five seasons at the Triple-A level. At Triple-A Buffalo last year in the Blue Jays system, he had a .900 OPS in 105 games while mostly playing first base; in earlier years he also manned the other infield positions and saw some action in the outfield.

3. Signed a Minor League contract without a camp invite.

The Brewers’ player development arm announced two such agreements on Thursday: right-hander Arnaldo Hernandez and Singleton, the first baseman and former Astros prospect who famously signed a $10 million, multiyear contract in 2014 before he’d played a single day in the Major Leagues.

Singleton, who briefly played for the Astros in ’14 and ’15 but batted .171 in 420 plate appearances, is 30 now, and has not played affiliated ball since 2017, with Houston’s Double-A affiliate. He was slapped with a 100-game suspension in 2018 following a third positive test for a drug of abuse and was released by the Astros, but he made a loud reappearance in 2021 in the Mexican League, slashing .321/.503/.693 with six doubles and 15 home runs in 189 plate appearances for the Diablos Rojos del Mexico. Singleton’s contract does not include an invitation to Major League Spring Training, but that would not rule out at-bats with the Brewers in the Cactus League, as certain members of Minor League camp often appear in games.