From the Collection: Alex White, sp, Cleveland Guardians
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Trading for prospects is always risky. Trading with Colorado for pitchers is also risky. Be careful with both.
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Alex White was a very talented pitcher for the University of North Carolina when he was taken with the #15 overall pick of the 2009 draft by Cleveland. By 2011, he was Cleveland’s top pitching prospect and profiled as a solid #2 or #3 starter with the ceiling of an ace.
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White made the majors in 2011, but in his third start, he injured his hand. While recovering, Cleveland included him in a package of prospects, including Cleveland’s #2 pitching prospect Drew Pomeranz, for Colorado’s ace Ubaldo Jiménez.
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Was it a good trade? I don’t know. Ubaldo Jiménez was terrible for Cleveland for the remainder of 2011 (77 ERA+) and 2012 (72 ERA+ and led the league in losses). But he was very good in 2013 (115 ERA+) and helped the team to the playoffs. That was also his walk year, so…funny how that works.
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Alex White would never find success in the majors and last pitched in the majors in 2012.
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It was another player included in that trade, Drew Pomeranz, who actually panned out. He was an All-Star in 2016, won 17 games in 2017. And he is still out there, at 36 years old, pitching well for the Chicago Cubs.