Catcher Martín Maldonado was released by the White Sox in July and didn’t sign with another club in the final months of the 2024 season. But that doesn’t mean he’s walking away, as Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (X link) relays that the backstop is hoping to play one more season.
Maldonado, now 38, has a long track record as a glove-first catcher. In almost 4,000 career plate appearances at the major league level, he has produced a batting line of .203/.278/.344. That translates to a wRC+ of 70, indicating he’s been 30% below league average at the plate in his career.
But behind the plate is where he has created his value. He has a career tally of 59 Defensive Runs Saved, one of the top ten marks in the majors from 2012 to the present. Outlets like FanGraphs, Baseball Prospectus and Statcast have given him strong grades for his framing, blocking and throwing in his career. On top of those quantifiable elements, he’s been lauded for intangibles like working with pitchers and providing clubhouse leadership.
Despite the lack of offense, he has signed four different contracts in the past six years, each with annual values between $2MM and $5MM. Teams have generally been willing to tolerate his lineup presence in exchange for his other contributions.
He tested the limits of that tolerance in 2024, however, and found a breaking point. He signed a one-year, $4.3MM deal with the White Sox going into the most recent season. But he hit just .119/.174/.230 in his 147 plate appearances, striking out in 34.7% of them while only drawing a walk 5.4% of the time. Though the Sox surely knew they weren’t going to be getting an elite bat, that was poor even by Maldonado’s low standards, so he was released in July.
It appears that Maldonado would prefer a better final act as a major leaguer, so he’ll try to get back in action in 2025. After missing the past few months of the season, he recently suited up for Leones del Escogido in the Dominican Winter League. He hit two home runs in his ten games there but slashed .114/.184/.314 in that small sample, for what it’s worth.
Maldonado won’t have huge earning power with the way his 2024 season went, but what could work in his favor is that the catching market isn’t strong overall. Guys like Danny Jansen, Kyle Higashioka and Carson Kelly represent the top of the free agent market. Clubs like the Nationals, Padres, Marlins, Rays and others could be on the lookout for catching upgrades this offseason, so perhaps Maldonado will be able to find some interest, though he’d likely be looking at minor league offers.
I’m hoping to play too. There is always hope.
You were throwing 78MPH at the County Fair, Esteban. Keep the cleats hanging up!
Yes, but he had some spin on it. Don’t count him out.
I came here for the same joke. You beat me to it.
I’d be hoping for someone to give me a million dollars to suck too. I agree with all ya all.
A good, decent #2 catcher on any team. I think his starting days are over.
Fenway: I think his MLB catching days are over. His only redeeming quality was his glove but his defense was horrible this season. He couldn’t block pitches out of the zone and, believe me, he had plenty of chances. His offense, however, was right in line with most of the Sox.
38 years old, horrendous offensive ability and his defensive calling card looks like it’s been revoked. Minor league invite to spring training at best to try to show something is left in the tank. If not, time to transition to coaching
If I were in charge in Pittsburgh I’d hire the guy to be the Pirates manager.
Samuel: Maldonado will probably have a good career as a catching coach.
Rays will pay him to be our starting catcher watch
38 years old couldn’t hit at 28. Now his defense has fallen off. I highly doubt any major league club would offer a minor league pact and there will also be no offers from overseas. He’s toast
Check out Alex Jackson, look how many games he played for us last year. Don’t rule anything out
Unfortunately, this. Offense, especially from the Catcher position was abysmal for a lot of teams last season. The Rays bat boy could have taken better PA’s than Jackson and the Rays still sent him to the plate 155 times. It’s possible someone will offer a training camp invite, even if its just to be another Catcher in camp and the Rays could certainly be that team
Get ready to learn Korean buddy
Riveting stuff. Pillar and Maldonado want to play baseball.
I think the fans should have a say at some point. I will sign the petition that says “No, Maldonado, nobody wants to watch you play in 2025, please exit stage left. Tired of watching you hit .135 with 45% K rate. Consider your career done. Nobody wants to pay good money to see you play.”
This should be a thing with broadcasters, too. Seriously, the stations with national rights need to clean house.
Bob Costas, you stay, but only as the Angels Play-by Play Man. No more national broadcasts got you. I like his stories.
Except Costas just retired from calling games but was one of the best.
“You’re excited? Feel these nipples!”…
He’s got 10 years of service time and has a nice bag of earnings. He should probably consider coaching at this point, something he’d be good at from all the positive remarks in his time with Houston.
When he was with the Astros, he was crap with the bat and often top of the charts on passed balls. His framing skills were non-existent too. The problem was that Dusty (the clown) Baker kept spouting this nonsense about how good he was with the pitchers..
The reality was that when young Yainer Diaz started to get a few games, the pitchers all got better results with him calling the games than they did with Maldonado.
What’s interesting is that he’s been about league average in terms of HR% and BB% in his career. Unfortunately he has a lot of blue on his Statcast page.
Cubs will pick him up. I can feel it… 🙁
Catching coach? Yes.
Player on the 26 man roster? Absolutely not. His bat has far too many holes and he’s not a good defender behind the dish anymore.
His swing is like Swiss Cheese.
Play in which country?
.119!! c’mon man that is not gonna buy you anything other than softball leagues
Orioles? Only need him on Sunday’s.
Have trash can will travel
If Atlanta doesn’t want Tromp to be the #2 catcher on the MLB roster in 2025, Maldonado could be a classic Anthopoulos 1yr veteran pick up.
I kinda doubt that AA let d’Arnaud walk to sign Maldonado. That’s just ridiculous at it’s finest. But thanks for the huge belly laugh I got.
You must not pay any attention. For one that is a ridiculous statement as AA actually knows how to run a team. He’s one of the best GM’s in the league. Every single GM has their share of blunders. But his good to great moves outweigh the bad ones. And for two drake Baldwin will be the braves backup catcher to start the year. He has nothing left to prove in the minors, his bat is very solid for a catcher and he has real power potential, but also he’s taken a step forward in his defensive development. I’ve seen nothing to suggest that he wont be the backup catcher unless he has an absolutely terrible spring. We didn’t let d’arnaud walk just to sign some one older and a much worse player offensively and defensively than him. We let him go so we can see if drake Baldwin is a legitimate MLB catcher.
You could justify keeping him on the roster when he was throwing out runners and calling a good game. But he can’t block anything in the dirt anymore and he doesn’t throw anybody out. There’s always Mexico.
Don’t do it, Rays. A .203 career Batting Average is too high! Wait for someone who hits below .200!
I’m sure he’s interested in playing next year, finding a team that’s interested is the hard part…