Cubs, Dylan Carlson Agree To Minor League Deal
January 27th: Carlson will make $2MM if he cracks the majors, per Jon Heyman of The New York Post, with another $1MM available via incentives.
January 26th: The Cubs have agreed to a minor league contract with free agent outfielder Dylan Carlson, as first reported by Greg Zumach. The ALIGND Sports client receives a non-roster invitation to major league spring training, where he’ll compete for a bench job.
Carlson is the second veteran outfielder to sign a minor league deal with the Cubs in the past week. Former Astros outfielder Chas McCormick also received an NRI from Chicago and will be in the mix for a bench spot.
The 27-year-old Carlson was the No. 33 overall pick in the 2016 draft by the Cubs’ archrivals in St. Louis. He ranked as one of the ten best prospects in the sport prior to his big league debut and had a nice showing in his first full season back in 2021 (.266/.343/.437, 18 homers) but has seen his bat stall out since. Carlson was a league-average hitter in 2022, but in three subsequent big league seasons has mustered only a .210/.294/.314 batting line in 761 trips to the plate between the Cardinals, Rays and Orioles. He’s dealt with shoulder, ankle, hamstring, thumb and wrist injuries along the way. The ankle injury, suffered in 2023, required season-ending surgery.
Carlson, a switch-hitter, had an uncharacteristically poor showing against left-handed pitching last year, but that came in a small sample with Baltimore. He’s been good against lefties throughout his career, hitting them at a .274/.347/.410 clip in 566 plate appearances. His left-handed swing and approach haven’t been nearly as refined; in 1421 turns at the plate versus right-handed pitching, he’s a .217/.298/.356 hitter.
The versatile Carlson can handle any of the three outfield spots, though his defensive grades in center field have slipped in small samples over the past couple seasons. Statcast graded his sprint speed comfortably above average earlier in his career, but Carlson was closer to the mean in 2025, sitting in the 56th percentile of big leaguers in that regard. He typically shows plus arm strength, based on the velocity of his throws from the outfield, but was closer to average in that regard this past season as well.
Carlson may not have developed into the star the Cardinals hoped, or even a quality regular, but if he can get back on track against left-handed pitching and play solid defense across the three outfield spots, he’s a fine fourth outfielder. Chicago’s outfield is set with Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Seiya Suzuki lining up from left to right, but Crow-Armstrong hit only .188/.217/.376 against lefties this past season.
If the Cubs want to give Crow-Armstrong some breaks against tough southpaws or even move to more of a platoon system, Carlson’s skill set could lend itself well to a complementary role, though the same could be said for fellow NRI McCormick. Waiver claim Justin Dean and prospect Kevin Alcantara are both on the 40-man roster as well. Both hit from the right side of the plate and can handle all three outfield spots.
Royals, Aaron Sanchez Agree To Minor League Deal
The Royals and right-hander Aaron Sanchez are in agreement on a minor league contract, reports Robert Murray of Fansided. The former Blue Jays All-Star will be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee. Sanchez would earn $1.5MM on the big league roster and has another $1.35MM available to him via incentives, a source tells MLBTR. The contract contains opt-out/release dates on April 15 and May 15, per Murray’s report. Sanchez is represented by Smooth Baseball.
Sanchez hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2022 and was out of baseball entirely in 2025. The 33-year-old set his sights on a comeback effort this winter though and more than earned a look with a big league club while pitching in the Dominican Winter League. He started eight games, pitched 46 1/3 innings and recorded a pristine 1.55 earned run average. Sanchez’s 19.1% strikeout rate isn’t much to look at, but he also walked only 5% of his opponents and has always been more of a ground-ball pitcher than a premium strikeout arm anyhow (career 52.7% grounder rate).
A former top prospect and No. 34 overall draft pick with the Blue Jays, Sanchez looked like a budding star in 2016. He paced the American League with a flat 3.00 ERA in 192 innings, finished seventh in Cy Young voting and made his lone All-Star team that year. Injuries have derailed him since. In addition to recurring blister troubles on his pitching hand, Sanchez has been plagued by a lat strain, a biceps strain and a torn capsule in his right shoulder.
Since that brilliant 2016 showing, Sanchez has managed only 367 2/3 innings in the majors. He’s pitched to a 5.29 ERA with a 17.5% strikeout rate, 10.6% walk rate and 49% ground-ball rate in that time, bouncing between five major league clubs along the way.
The Royals have a strong rotation, but clubs are always on the hunt for low-cost depth starting pitching depth. Cole Ragans, Kris Bubic, Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha and Noah Cameron give the club five quality arms to carry into the season. Right-handers Alec Marsh, Ryan Bergert, Stephen Kolek and Mason Black are on the 40-man roster and all have starting experience in the majors, as does out-of-options left-hander Bailey Falter, who seems ticketed for a swingman role.
Diamondbacks Notes: Bullpen, First Base
The D-backs have bolstered their rotation mix this winter by agreeing to a two-year reunion with Merrill Kelly and bringing Michael Soroka in on a one-year deal, but the bullpen remains largely untouched. Taylor Clarke‘s low-cost, one-year deal is the only addition of any real note. General manager Mike Hazen emphasized to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic that he still plans to add to his relief corps, but the focus for much of the winter was on the rotation.
“The bullpen market isn’t done,” Hazen told Piecoro over the weekend. “There’s trades out there. … There are still active conversations all over the place in this area.”
While that doesn’t necessarily mean that the D-backs are lock to trade for an established reliever rather than sign one of the remaining free agent arms, it at least lends some credence to the belief that the trade market is the preferred route. Diamondbacks brass has been candid about the fact that payroll will be reduced in 2026 even as the team keeps aiming to contend. Hazen implied to Piecoro that if he’d signed a more prominent, established reliever in free agency, that doing so would have come at the expense of being able to re-sign Kelly, who commanded a two-year, $40MM contract.
Pinning down viable trade candidates, particularly in the bullpen, is often a tricky endeavor — particularly at this point of the offseason when many names have already moved. Cardinals lefty JoJo Romero is an obvious trade candidate, but the D-backs and Cards already pulled off one notable deal (Nolan Arenado) and clearly didn’t line up on a way to include Romero in that deal. The Rockies have some young, controllable relievers who’ve garnered interest (e.g. Victor Vodnik, Seth Halvorsen, Juan Mejia), but trading with a division foe is always a bit more complicated. Milwaukee’s Trevor Megill was in trade rumblings earlier in the winter, but the Brewers might not feel as urgent to shed his salary after trading a more expensive Freddy Peralta to the Mets.
However it shakes out, Hazen’s comment aren’t the lone indicator that the Diamondbacks could prefer the trade market as an avenue to bolster manager Torey Lovullo’s relief options. John Gambadoro of 98.7 FM Arizona Sports suggested last week (prior to Hazen’s comments) that adding more bullpen help, specifically via the trade market, and bringing in a righty-hitting first baseman were likely goals for the front office.
A righty-hitting first baseman is a natural target. Arizona hoped to be adding just that last summer when scooping up former top prospect Tyler Locklear from the Mariners as part of the Eugenio Suarez return, but Locklear suffered a torn ligament in his left elbow and injured the labrum in his left shoulder on a collision at first base in September. He underwent season-ending surgery shortly thereafter and isn’t a lock to be ready for the early portion of the season. The 25-year-old Locklear has yet to hit in 165 big league plate appearances, but he bashed Triple-A pitching at a .316/.401/.542 pace last year (136 wRC+) and logged strong offensive performances in 2024 (131 wRC+ between Double-A, Triple-A) and in 2023 (145 wRC+ between High-A and Double-A).
As it stands, Arizona has Pavin Smith penciled in for the majority of work at first base. He’s a career .253/.333/.439 hitter against righties (111 wRC+) but has been considerably better across the past two seasons, albeit while battling some notable injuries that have limited his time on the field. Still, the late-blooming Smith has posted a big .271/.359/.493 slash (134 wRC+) with 16 home runs, 26 doubles and a triple in 399 plate appearances against righties across the past two seasons. Unfortunately, he’s a career .222/.296/.301 hitter against fellow lefties, which only underscores the need for a platoon partner.
There’s been plenty of speculation among D-backs fans about a reunion with Paul Goldschmidt, who of course starred for Arizona for the first eight seasons of his career before being traded to St. Louis in the 2018-19 offseason. The 38-year-old’s .274/.328/.403 slash with the Yankees last year was about league average, but he did nearly all of his damage against lefties, hitting them at a .336/.411/.570 clip compared to just .247/.289/.329 against fellow righties. If Goldschmidt is amenable to a limited role coupled with a Phoenix homecoming, he’d indeed be a fine fit. Speculative alternatives on the free agent market include Rhys Hoskins, Ty France and Justin Turner.
Trade Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript
Steve Adams
- Good afternoon! Hope the weekend treated everyone well. I will get going in a couple hours, at 3pm CT, but feel free to send in some questions ahead of time if you are so inclined!
- Let's get going!
Mr Redlegs
- What's the restriction on when you can trade a newly signed player? e.g. if the White Sox wanted, could they assume Seranthony Dominguez salary and trade him for a prospect now verses waiting until the deadline?
Steve Adams
- Any player signing as a free agent cannot be traded until the following June 15 unless he consents to it.
Amazins
- Do you see Peralta sigining extension with Mets? How much would get it done?
Steve Adams
- I assume they'll try to extend him, yes. David Stearns has shown pretty definitively that he prefers to eschew long-term commitments, particularly to pitchers. He knows Peralta well from Milwaukee and knows Peralta has signed one deal prioritizing comfort and security over maxing out on the open market.I imagine they'll aim for something like four years total (beginning in 2027, since he's already signed for 2026) and at a massive AAV. Something like $140-160MM total from 2027-30. He'd be 34 at the end of that contract.
Drake
- So who plays RF for the Giants? Lee or Bader?
Steve Adams
- Jung Hoo Lee was statistically one of the worst CFs in baseball last year, but his arm strength rated well. Bader is elite in CF. He'll play there. Lee will slide to the corner.
Al
- What do you see is the most likely scenario for Matt Shaw.
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Angels, Nick Sandlin Agree To Minor League Deal
The Angels and reliever Nick Sandlin are in agreement on a minor league contract with an invitation to major league spring training, reports Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. The right-hander is represented by the Ballengee Group.
Sandlin, 29, has pitched in parts of four big league seasons, primarily suiting up for the Guardians. Cleveland shipped him to Toronto as part of last offseason’s Andrés Giménez swap, however. Sandlin wound up pitching only 16 1/3 innings with the Jays, as a lat strain and elbow inflammation led him to spend the bulk of the season on the injured list. Toronto designated him for assignment following the season — effectively non-tendering him — rather than paying a projected $2MM in arbitration (courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz).
Prior to that injury-marred Jays run, Sandlin was a quality member of the Cleveland bullpen. From 2021-24, he pitched 195 1/3 innings with a tidy 3.27 earned run average, a 27.7% strikeout rate, 11.4% walk rate and a 43.6% ground-ball rate. That walk rate is well north of league-average, but Sandlin’s strikeout rate was strong and his grounder rate was a hair better than par.
Sandlin has never been a hard thrower, but the 91.4 mph he averaged on his four-seamer last year and the 91.8 mph he averaged on his sinker were both career-low marks. That’s not necessarily surprising, given that a pair of arm injuries creates a pretty good chance he wasn’t pitching at 100% (or all that close to it) when he did take the mound. Sandlin’s huge 14.8% swinging-strike rate from 2025 (again, small-sample caveats apply) was also outstanding.
Sandllin has 4.157 years of major league service time. If he spends even 15 days on the Angels’ major league roster or injured list, he’ll reach five years of service. That’s still not enough to become a free agent — unless he’s non-tendered — so if he pitches well, the Angels will have control over him for not only the 2026 season but also the 2027 campaign.
There should be room in the Anaheim bullpen for Sandlin to grab a spot if he pitches well during spring training or perhaps early in the season with Triple-A Salt Lake. Robert Stephenson, Kirby Yates, Drew Pomeranz and Jordan Romano are all locked into spots, and out-of-options righty Chase Silseth probably has a place locked down as well. That’d leave three spots for some combination of Ryan Zeferjahn, Jose Fermin, Cody Laweryson, Sam Bachman and a handful of veteran non-roster invitees (Sandlin, Miguel Castro, Angel Perdomo, Tayler Saucedo). The Halos will probably add some more arms to the spring competition before long, but Sandlin gives them another talented arm on which to roll the dice.
Trey Mancini, Angels Agree To Minor League Deal
The Angels have agreed to a minor league contract with first baseman/outfielder Trey Mancini, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Presumably, the Frontline client will be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee next month.
A focal point in the Orioles’ offense from 2017-21, Mancini was once a consistent 20-homer threat who topped out with 35 round-trippers in 2019’s juiced-ball season. His career — and life — were thrown into chaos when he was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer prior to the 2020 season. Mancini announced nine months later that he’d wrapped up a chemotherapy regimen and was cancer-free. He made an inspirational return to the diamond in 2021 and hit .255/.326/.432 with 21 home runs during the 2021 season.
Mancini’s 2022 season was split between Baltimore and Houston, who acquired him at the trade deadline. His rate stats slipped to .239/.319/.391, but his track record was still enough to net him a two-year deal in free agency. That deal with the Cubs didn’t pan out. Mancini was cut loose after hitting .234/.299/.336 in 79 games in 2023, and he hasn’t played in the majors since.
Out of baseball entirely in 2024, Mancini returned to the game on a minor league deal with Arizona last year. He slashed .308/.373/.522 (110 wRC+) in 335 plate appearances with the D-backs’ Triple-A affiliate in Reno before opting out of the contract in June. A big league offer didn’t materialize, and Mancini did not return to the field in 2025.
As Rosenthal explores at length in a full column, the Angels deal reunites Mancini with former Orioles slugger and VP of baseball operations Brady Anderson, who accepted his first major league coaching gig this offseason when he agreed to become the hitting coach in Anaheim. For part of a deep dive into Anderson’s history and next chapter, Rosenthal chatted with Mancini, who credits Anderson with keeping his career going. Mancini tells Rosenthal that he was “at peace being done” after being cut from a minor league deal with the Reds during spring training last year. Anderson, however, invited Mancini to come hit with him and got him back on track before that minor league deal with the Diamondbacks.
Mancini will be 34 in March and hasn’t taken a major league plate appearance in nearly 30 months. He’ll obviously be a long shot to break camp on the Angels’ roster or even to be called to the majors at any point this coming season. Last year’s run in Reno shows that he still has some life in his bat, however, and the Angels’ lineup is hardly lacking in opportunity.
First baseman Nolan Schanuel has been a hit-over-power first baseman with below-average defensive grades since being rushed to the majors just two months after his selection as a first-rounder in 2023. Oft-injured Mike Trout and rebound hopeful Jorge Soler will be splitting time between designated hitter and the outfield corners. Bench options for new manager Kurt Suzuki include out-of-options infielders Oswald Peraza and Vaughn Grissom, waiver addition Wade Meckler, and outfielders Kyren Paris, Matthew Lugo and Bryce Teodosio. Paris and Lugo both fanned in more than one-third of their major league plate appearances last year. Teodosio is a 26-year-old former undrafted free agent who hit .203/.248/.304 in 50 games as a rookie last year.
The Astros Have Work To Do In The Outfield
For much of the offseason, the focus surrounding the Astros was how they'd improve their rotation and general starting pitching depth. It was an understandable qualm. Framber Valdez became a free agent, and while he's still lingering on the market, a reunion with Houston never felt all that likely, given the contract he'll likely command and the team's aversion to long-term deals of that magnitude. Hayden Wesneski had Tommy John surgery late last May. Ronel Blanco followed a couple weeks later. Lefty Brandon Walter was an out-of-the-blue success story ... at least until he also underwent Tommy John surgery -- his in mid-September.
The 'Stros have done well to bolster the starting staff. Their surprise deal with NPB star Tatsuya Imai gives them a potential high-end arm to replace Valdez. A trade acquisition of Pittsburgh righty Mike Burrows plugged a young, controllable arm into the fourth spot on the staff. Cheap rolls of the dice on former top prospect Nate Pearson and former D-backs/Royals farmhand Ryan Weiss, who's coming back over after a terrific two years in the Korea Baseball Organization, added some depth.
A six-man group consisting of Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, Imai, Burrows, Weiss and Lance McCullers Jr. could be solid -- particularly if McCullers can be even serviceable. Depth arms abound. Spencer Arrighetti, J.P. France, AJ Blubaugh, Colton Gordon, Jason Alexander and Miguel Ullola are all on the 40-man roster and all have minor league options remaining. Twenty-three-year-old Ethan Pecko had a nice season between Double-A and Triple-A last season and could get a look in 2026.
There are still clearly some question marks, but the Astros added an intriguing young arm (Burrows), a high-upside international star (Imai) and an under-the-radar 29-year-old coming off a big KBO showing (Weiss). Things look much better than they did a few months back.
The same can't be said in the outfield. To this point in the offseason, the biggest move the Astros have made, outfield-wise, is non-tendering Chas McCormick. Unless the Astros plan to use Yordan Alvarez in left field on the regular -- which is very unlikely to be the case -- it's easy to argue that they don't have even one everyday outfielder who can be confidently projected as a league-average hitter.
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Twins Notes: Peralta, Jeffers, Bullpen
Entering the offseason, most expected the Twins to continue the July fire sale that saw them trade 11 players for a combination of salary relief, prospects and controllable young big leaguers. Instead, after finalizing the addition of three new minority stakeholders, ownership gave president of baseball operations Derek Falvey and his staff at least some modest resources to add to a stripped-down payroll. That’s resulted in free-agent pickups of Josh Bell, Victor Caratini and, most recently, Taylor Rogers. (The latter two of those signings have not yet been made official.)
Minnesota at least looked into one far more notable swing, it seems. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Twins were among the teams to show some late interest in now-former Brewers ace Freddy Peralta before Milwaukee traded him to the Mets.
Given Peralta’s status as a one-year rental, it’s clearly a surprising fit. The Twins have made some relatively small additions but don’t stand as a clear contender, even in a perennially weak AL Central division. That said, Peralta’s $8MM salary would fit into even their stripped-down budget, and the Twins have a plethora of MLB-ready young arms as well as a glut of young outfielders who have either already made their MLB debut or are on the cusp of MLB readiness. Acquiring Peralta would’ve boosted their chances in the Central. Peralta could’ve been shopped again at the deadline had the season not gone their way, and he’s a clear qualifying offer recipient who’d net a team a compensatory pick upon rejecting.
It’s not clear how aggressively Minnesota pursued the idea, but it’s of at least minor note that they even looked into the possibility. The trade market has been largely picked over, particularly with MacKenzie Gore coming off the board in yesterday’s trade with the Rangers, but even faint Peralta interest suggests that the Twins could look into other moves on the buyers’ side of the trade spectrum.
Further reinforcing the idea that subsequent moves will be geared toward improving, catcher Ryan Jeffers said in a recent appearance on the Inside Twins show (video link) that management kept him apprised of how things were developing throughout their pursuit of Caratini. At first glance, the Caratini signing would seem to make Jeffers, a free agent next winter, a possible trade candidate. Jeffers suggests that management indicated otherwise to him.
“Before all that happened, I had conversations [with management telling me] ‘Hey, this might happen,’ and just reassuring me that my role as the guy who’s going to catch 100-plus games is not going to change,” Jeffers told host John Vittas. I’m excited to go back there and really get a full season in. Throughout my career, I’ve split time with a lot of guys, and I’m excited to catch a full workload and also be joined by a guy (Caratini) who’s been in the game for eight-plus years and has a lot of experience, has won a lot of games and has been with some organizations that have played really good baseball.”
Jeffers, 28, has quietly been one of the better-hitting catchers in the league over the past three seasons, hitting a combined .254/.338/.434 (117 wRC+) in 1264 plate appearances. A fair portion of that time has come at designated hitter while others handle the work behind the plate — veterans Christian Vazquez and Mitch Garver among them. Jeffers has never caught more than 88 games in a season, but the Twins have indeed signaled that the plan for him is to be behind the plate more often in 2026.
Caratini, of course, still figures to see plenty of time behind the plate. Even if the plan is for Jeffers to catch 100 to 110 games, that’d leave ample time at catcher for Caratini and Alex Jackson, who’s also on the 40-man and out of minor league options. Caratini has experience at first base and could log some DH reps himself, and he provides a nice fallback for the Twins in 2027 if Jeffers departs as a free agent. In that instance, Caratini could help to serve as a bridge to top prospect Eduardo Tait, whom the Twins acquired in last summer’s Jhoan Duran blockbuster with the Phillies.
While the Twins might not be making a full-fledged push for contention — they’re still going to end up with payroll that’s more than $20MM shy of last year’s $135MM mark, in all likelihood — it sounds as though there will still be some additions on the horizon. Rogers adds a veteran arm to the bullpen, but there’s still room for more additions. Rogers, Cole Sands, Justin Topa and Kody Funderburk are the only Minnesota relievers with even one year of major league service time.
Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star Tribune suggests that Rogers could be the first of multiple bullpen additions in the near future. Falvey told Nightengale and others that the Twins have been talking with multiple relievers. “We’re close to being able to add some guys that we think will fill out some experience in that group, but we’re going to need some young guys to step up,” Falvey said.
The Twins had at least some contact with right-hander Seranthony Dominguez before he landed with the White Sox on a two-year deal today. The open nature of their bullpen mix would make them an appealing destination for rebound candidates seeking opportunity at late-inning spots. Speculatively speaking, names like Michael Kopech, Liam Hendriks, Jose Leclerc and Drew Smith could see an unsettled Twins bullpen as an appealing opportunity where they’ll be afforded some leash to get back on track after recent injury troubles. Regardless of specific targets, it seems quite likely that Rogers won’t be the lone bullpen addition the Twins make between now and Opening Day.
Phillies Re-Sign Tim Mayza To Minor League Deal
The Phillies have re-signed veteran lefty Tim Mayza to a minor league contract, reports Matt Gelb of The Athletic. He’ll be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee next month. Mayza is represented by Covenant Sports Group.
A veteran of eight big league seasons, Mayza finished the 2025 campaign with Philadelphia after coming over in a trade from the Pirates. He spent the bulk of the 2025 season on the injured list but appeared in 15 games between the two clubs and logged a 3.78 ERA in 16 1/3 frames. Dating back to 2021, the southpaw carries a 3.49 earned run average, 22.2% strikeout rate, 6.7% walk rate and 55% ground-ball rate in 214 1/3 major league innings.
Mayza, who turned 34 last week, still stands as something of a rebound candidate — despite that solid track record. In addition to missing the bulk of the 2025 season due to a lat strain, the longtime Blue Jays southpaw was roughed up for a 6.33 ERA in 42 2/3 innings between Toronto and the Bronx in 2024. His last full, healthy and productive season came with Toronto in 2023, when he turned in 53 1/3 innings with a tiny 1.52 ERA, a 24.7% strikeout rate, a 7% walk rate and a huge 58.2% ground-ball rate.
Mayza typically sits 93-94 mph with a sinker he throws more than two-thirds of the time. (He averaged 93.6 mph on the pitch in 2025.) He’s a two-pitch lefty, complementing that worm-burning two-seamer with a slider that generally sits 86-87 mph (87.1 mph in ’25). Right-handed batters have typically had little trouble handling Mayza, evidenced by a career .281/.350/.474 batting line against him. Conversely, left-handers probably wonder why they even bother when he’s on the mound; Mayza has held same-handed opponents to an awful .214/.266/.304 batting line in his career.
Philadelphia has a pair of quality left-handers — Jose Alvarado and Tanner Banks — in what should be a terrific bullpen overall. Beyond those two southpaws, the Phils boast a contingent of righties including Jhoan Duran, Brad Keller and Orion Kerkering. The final few spots in the ‘pen are somewhat up for grabs. Rule 5 pick Zach McCambley and journeyman Zach Pop (who signed a split major league deal this winter) feel particularly vulnerable if someone like Mayza or another in-house candidate enjoys a big spring performance.
Tigers, Corey Julks Agree To Minor League Deal
3:15pm: Julks does indeed get an invite to big league camp, per Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press, and will make $875K if he cracks the roster.
11:51am: The Tigers have agreed to a minor league contract with free agent outfielder Corey Julks, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. He’ll presumably be in big league camp as a non-roster player.
Julks, 30 next month, has seen big league time in three consecutive seasons — albeit just 13 plate appearances with the White Sox this past season. He’s played roughly the equivalent of one full major league season, appearing in 165 games and tallying 565 plate appearances as a big leaguer. In that time, he’s slashed .234/.288/.337 with nine homers, 23 doubles, 20 steals (in 25 tries), a 7% walk rate and a 24.4% strikeout rate. Julks became a free agent after the White Sox passed him through outright waivers following the 2025 season.
It’s middling big league production, but Julks has a long history of producing at the Triple-A level, where he’s spent parts of four seasons and slashed .279/.365/.486. Julks belted 31 homers and swiped 22 bags with the Astros’ Triple-A affiliate back in 2022, and by measure of wRC+, he’s been at least 18% better than average at the plate in all four of his Triple-A campaigns.
Julks doesn’t have a significant platoon split in his fairly limited MLB time — he’s been below average against both lefties and righties — but he’s a right-handed bat who’s pummeled lefties in recent minor league seasons. He slashed .301/.377/.484 against southpaws this past season and hit them at a .297/.381/.424 clip the year prior.
Defensively, Julks has experience at all three outfield spots but has primarily played the corners. He was credited with above-average sprint speed and arm strength in 2023-24 but below-average range in the outfield. He’s also played 415 innings at third base and another 28 at second base in the minors, but he’s primarily a corner outfielder who at best can make an emergency cameo at another spot on the diamond.