Outfielder Corey Julks has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Charlotte, reports Scott Merkin of MLB.com. The White Sox designated him for assignment earlier this week. Since this is his second career outright, he has the right to reject the assignment and elect free agency, though Merkin didn’t indicate he would do so.
Julks, 29, has put up plenty of intriguing numbers in the minors. That has led to a few limited looks in the big leagues, but he hasn’t been able to do much with those. He has a .236/.290/.340 line in 520 career plate appearances, which translates to a wRC+ of 76, indicating he’s been 24% worse than the league average hitter.
The minor league track record is greater in both quality and quantity. Dating back to the cancelled 2020 season, he has stepped to the plate 1,630 times on the farm with a .278/.361/.486 batting line and 120 wRC+. He’s also stolen 63 bases and lined up at all three outfield spots.
That minor league track record wasn’t enough for any club to give him a 40-man spot. He still has an option remaining and could have been stashed in the minors but all clubs passed on that chance. As mentioned, since he has been outrighted before, he could decide to head to the open market now. If he passes on that opportunity, he’ll qualify for minor league free agency at season’s end.
Photo courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski, Imagn Images
Julks doesn’t need any “looks”. He’s 29 years old and is what he is – a player no team wants because he’s not a major league player.
He will soon be out of baseball.
I will agree he is an “average” player. He’s not good or great when given any chance of keeping him on the 40 man, much less on the 26 man. Every really good players in minor league that’s been called up a number of times for that “fresh look” tends to have below average results. I believe that’s the case with Julks going back to his draft by my Astros. I haven’t followed his career numbers as closely as I did when he was a miner league player that had plenty of playing time to give him and we still cut out loses. Really good minor league player but no where in MLB is a team that thinks “I can “fix” him”, if so they would have jumped last time he went unclaimed. Very good average minor league guy, but not even a light on prospects team willing to sign him to a 40 man spot with the was he is playing. That should speak volumes to everyone.
Tauchman was good with the Cubs too.
The Brewers should pick up Julks and probably create Andrew Vaughn 2.0