According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post (on X), the White Sox and catcher Martín Maldonado have reached an agreement on a one-year contract with a 2025 option. FanSided’s Robert Murray (X link) originally revealed the sides were close to reaching an agreement. The MVP Sports Group client’s financial terms are yet unknown.
Maldonado’s relocation to the South Side of Chicago formally ends his four and a half-year tenure in Houston. When the Astros signed Víctor Caratini to a two-year contract during the Winter Meetings, it was evident that they were moving on from the 37-year-old. Caratini was available as a seasoned substitute for Yainer Diaz, thus Maldonado had to search elsewhere.
Having played in 13 big league seasons, he will now be joining his sixth MLB franchise.
Maldonado has never hit in the major leagues at a level that is average, with the exception of the very short 2020 season. He is among the least significant hitters in the game overall. The right-handed batter’s career plate appearance total is over 3700 with a.207/.282/.349 line. He hasn’t hit the Mendoza line in three years, with a slash line of.183/.260/.333 dating back to the beginning of 2021.
Joey Gallo is the only player with a worse batting average among the 226 batters who have at least 1000 plate appearances during that time. Maldonado is fifth from the bottom in slugging percentage and has the lowest on-base percentage of the bunch. The fact that the Astros still used him as their primary catcher on some of the league’s top teams illustrates how highly the coaches and
Maldonado has been a very good defensive catcher for the majority of his career. Last season, that wasn’t the case. He was rated by Statcast as the poorest pitch framer among backstops that are qualifying. Just 14% of attempted basestealers were thrown out by him, which is around six percentage points fewer than the league average. Statcast ranked Maldonado 23rd out of 81 catchers (minimum 10 throws) in terms of average pop time to second base, which may be more indicative of the pitching staff in Houston than of Maldonado himself.
In any event, Maldonado’s ability to call games and collaborate with a pitching staff is what makes Chicago’s front management and coaching staff more appealing. In 2024, the White Sox will probably go through a variety of young pitchers. The staff ace is Dylan Cease, however it’s
Maldonado will collaborate with that group of pitchers. In the near term, he can act as a stand-in for Edgar Quero, the star of the Lucas Giolito/Reynaldo López trade from last summer. The 20-year-old played Double-A ball the whole previous season. He might make it to the majors by the end of the 2024 campaign and assume the lead role in 2025.
It’s probable that the signing of Maldonado will cause one of the team’s other catchers to be replaced in the interim. The White Sox’s 40-man roster will have four catchers once the deal is consummated. It is improbable that Chicago will relocate from Lee, which might put Carlos Pérez and Max Stassi in jeopardy. Pérez had a poor season at the plate, both in Triple-A and the majors. Stassi was just purchased by the White Sox from the Braves.