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.
