According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the White Sox and catcher Martín Maldonado have reached an agreement on a one-year contract with a 2025 option. First to report that the sides were close to an agreement was Robert Murray of FanSided. 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. He rejoins former Houston colleague Korey Lee, who was sold by the Astros to the Sox during the trade deadline this past summer in exchange for reliever Kendall Graveman. Two major league seasons have seen patches of offensive ineffectiveness from the 25-year-old Lee. Maldonado’s specialty is defense catcher, and he is highly recognized in that area.
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 coaching and pitching staff thought so highly of him that the Astros relied on him as their #1 catcher on some of the strongest squads in Major League Baseball.
Maldonado has been regarded as a top-notch 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. His 14% completion percentage on attempted base stealers was around six percentage points lower 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 number of inexperienced pitchers. The staff ace is Dylan Cease, but there’s no guarantee he won’t be dealt before Opening Day.
Erick Fedde, a KBO returnee, is sure to start in the first rotation of the season, although Michael Kopech will probably have a chance to recover. Two players that were acquired from the Braves in the Aaron Bummer trade, Michael Soroka and Jared Shuster, could compete for slots. Prospects Cristian Mena and Jake Eder may eventually make it to the major leagues, but Rule 5 choice Shane Drohan must stay on the MLB roster or be removed and then offered back to the Red Sox.
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 take over as the primary option in 2025 and make it to the majors late in the 2024 season.
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. The White Sox recently acquired Stassi from the Braves a few weeks ago, but they didn’t give up anything (a player to be named later) in order to acquire him, and they are not obligated to pay anything over the league minimum salary.