Catcher Korey Lee has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A, according to Scott Merkin of MLB.com. Lee was designated for assignment by the White Sox three days ago after being informed that he wouldn’t make the Opening Day roster.
The outright assignment keeps Lee in the organization, which may prove ideal for the Sox. A few weeks ago, Lee was poised for the backup catcher spot, with Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero splitting time between catcher and DH to keep both in the lineup. Then, Teel strained his hamstring in the World Baseball Classic, leading him to start the year on the injured list. The injury prompted Chicago to sign Reese McGuire to a cheap one-year deal as a backup while Quero started behind the plate. Despite his excellent performance in Spring Training, Lee was ultimately the odd man out. He’ll now start the year as Triple-A depth, but he’s likely the next man up should Quero or McGuire suffer an injury themselves.
Lee has made 530 career plate appearances between the Astros and White Sox from 2022-25. His first significant look came in 2024 with the Sox, making 394 PA over 125 games. He batted just .210/.244/.347 with a 65 wRC+, although he showed some power with 12 home runs. He spent most of 2025 at Triple-A and fared slightly better with an 81 wRC+. Still, his overall offensive output is underwhelming given his status as a former first-round draft pick.
Instead, Lee’s value comes from his defense and ability to work with a pitching staff. In 2024, Statcast graded him in the 97th percentile for pop time and the 82nd percentile for caught stealing above average. In contrast, he earned negative marks for his blocking and framing. Despite those flaws, Lee’s arm strength, youth, and affordability give him some appeal as minor-league depth. He has just over two years of service time and is out of option years. If his contract is eventually selected, he would need to hit enough to stick on the roster or else be designated for assignment. In that scenario, he would have the right to refuse another outright assignment.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
Lee can’t hit MLB pitching plus Reese McGuire is statsically better than Lee in all areas minus speed.
Reese McGuire’s career OPS is .666.
Just saying you mess with the bull you get the horns.
Lee career OPS is less than that.
Yeah but he didn’t make a deal with the devil.
When you mess with the snake you can get…messy!
So far he has been fantastic. 3 strikeouts in 4 at bats. What kind of ops does that equal?
OPS? A Britney OPS. As in OPS i did it again
Nice!… Simple yet elegant.
I didn’t say it was a good deal he made with the devil.
Might want to look at the box score from tonight’s game. Your grandma probably has a better chance of throwing out a baserunner than RMG lol.
RMG- short for Ronald Mcdonald?
Him too lol.
I posted this last week to another person but it applies here as well:
Last season, McGuire (31) hit .218 with an OBP of .260 while Lee (27) hit .257 with an OBP of .333
Lee has much more power, is a far superior baserunner, four years younger and has one of the strongest arms in the game. There’s no need to go back five years, when the situation is about the next three.
I’m talking career wise
The present and the future > The past
And yet he made it through waivers.
Really? We’re supposed to believe that “pt57” showed up unexpectedly, just to make this comment that had nothing to do with him?
Interesting
Surprised nobody went after him. He had a nice spring training. Maybe he will breakout.
Seems all 30 teams felt they had a better backup catcher. Guess he’s only good depth to have if you’re the White Sox, and he’s the fourth Catcher on the depth chart.
Think they were really savvy w how they handled this. Waited till last minute likely when teams were already set for season. Awfully hard for serious teams in contention to disrupt their catcher rotation since it affects rotation dynamics: recall how Astros rode w Martin Maldonado instead of Will Contreras one trade deadline despite huge bat upgrade due to fears of disruption. And teams in full teardown likely don’t see an upside w Corey. The guy the Sox just picked up for Mead sounds like the high ceiling bat you wanna target
They were able to stash Romo too. A switch hitter with some pop and good defense
Sox catch a break. Maybe they could package Quero and Sosa for a very good outfielder. The good news is that they moved Antonacci to LF in Charlotte.
Getz might choose not to trade Quero due to his catching is golden quote.
McGuire tends to suffer wrist injuries while in Dollar General parking lots, so it’s a good thing Lee is still a call away.