A hunter Corey Lee he will not break camp with the White Sox, according to Scott Merkin of MLB.com. With Lee out of minor league options, the Sox will have to designate Lee for assignment and hope he clears waivers to take him off their 40-man roster and send him to Triple-A. Or, if the White Sox are ready to move on from Lee entirely, the team can shop Lee to any teams in need of a catch that might be interested in a trade.
As of a few weeks ago, Chicago seemed poised to enter 2026 with three pitchers on the active roster. Kyle Teel again Edgar Quero will get at-bats both as a catcher and as a designated hitter, and Lee will be kept as a traditional backup so the Sox don’t run into any problems by having Teel and Quero on the roster at the same time. Teel then suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain during the World Baseball Classic, putting the catcher on the shelf for 4-6 weeks and at best returning in mid-April.
Rather than just stick with Quero and Lee until Teel is healthy, the White Sox signed Reese McGuire one year, $1.2MM guaranteed earlier today, a day after McGuire opted out of a previous minor league deal with the Brewers. Lee may have been the odd man out even if Teel hadn’t gotten hurt and the Sox just wanted to stick with two catchers, but McGuire’s addition means some kind of decision about the catching depth chart was inevitable.
It was”a really tough decision” to do, as manager Will Venable told Merkin (multiple links).Korey Lee has been outstanding in this camp. He’s a really important member of this organization, a great relationship in the clubhouse. Someone I love and respect,” Venable said. As for what’s next for Lee, the Sox skipper said “we will fix it in the next few days, see what happens. There will be a process.”
Lee was selected 32nd overall by the Astros in the 2019 draft, and attracted the attention of some top 100 prospects during his time in Houston’s farm system. The Astros seem picky Martin MaldonadoSteady defense and playmaking skills, then Yainer Diaz emerged as the team’s next catcher of the future, prompting Lee to spend enough money to deal with Chicago Kendall Graveman before the 2023 trade deadline.
The 2024 season represented the end of Lee’s extended Major League playing time, as 394 of his 530 plate appearances came in a season in which the White Sox posted a 41–121 record. Lee’s lack of production contributed to the struggles, as he hit .210/.244/.347 with 12 home runs over his 394 PA, earning multiple career catches while Chuckie Robinson and former Astros teammate Maldonado worked in reserve roles.
Starting in 2025, Lee was dropped behind Teel (acquired from the Red Sox as part of Garret Crochet’s blockbuster) and Quero (also acquired at the 2023 deadline in a trade with the Angels). The White Sox resisted the sale of Teel and Quero as teams looked to implement this virtual plan, as the Sox wanted more time to evaluate both players as potential prospects.
Although Lee hasn’t shown much at the plate and his fielding ability has been questioned, Lee is considered a solid defensive catcher, adept at throwing out baserunners and working with pitchers. Because teams are often short on catching depth, Lee is a good candidate to pursue should the White Sox DFA him, providing incentive for any interested teams to make a trade now rather than take their chances on the waiver wire.
