The Padres and catcher Martín Maldonado have agreed to a minor league deal with an invite to big league camp, reports Dennis Lin of The Athletic. The backstop is a client of MVP Sports Group.
Maldonado, 38, has carved out a lengthy career as a glove-first catcher. Teams have generally been willing to tolerate his subpar offense in exchange for his strong glovework and reputation as a guy who can work well with pitchers and provide leadership in the clubhouse.
However, the 2024 season saw him push that to new extremes. He secured a $4.25MM deal with the White Sox but hit just .119/.174/.230 in 48 games. Even by his own low standards for offense, that was a dismal showing. He was released by July and didn’t sign with another club over the final few months of the season.
Despite his age and that awful season, it was reported in December that he wanted to keep his career going in 2025. He has recently been playing winter ball, perhaps due to the long layoff he just had, but without improved results. He slashed .114/.184/.314 in 10 games for Leones del Escogido of the Dominican Winter League and then .135/.195/.216 in 12 games for Indios de Mayaguez of Puerto Rico’s Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente.
Though the numbers have been rough lately, there’s little harm for the Padres to take a flier on a minor league deal. Maldonado’s career batting line of .203/.278/.344 only amounts to a wRC+ of 70, indicating he’s been 30% below league average, but is far better than his recent results.
Even with that tepid offense, he’s been able to be a useful player thanks to his contributions on the other side of the ball. He has 59 Defensive Runs Saved in his career, with that tally being one of the ten best in baseball from 2012 to the present. Outlets like Statcast and Baseball Prospectus have also given him strong marks for his work while donning the tools of ignorance.
The Padres have a fairly wide open catching situation and little money to address it. Reporting throughout the winter has suggested they need to lower their commitments in 2025, which has led to guys like Dylan Cease, Luis Arráez and Robert Suarez appearing in trade rumors.
Last year, Luis Campusano opened the year as the club’s primary catcher but he gradually ceded time to Kyle Higashioka as the year wore on. Campusano had long been a top prospect and hit .319/.356/.491 in 49 games in 2023, his age-24 season. The Padres were surely hoping that he could keep some of that going in 2024 but he went on to hit .227/.281/.361 for a wRC+ of 83. Thanks to some poor grades for his defense, he was considered to be below replacement level.
He only got three starts in the final month of the season as the Friars leaned on Higashioka and Elias Díaz. That duo carried onto the postseason, with Campusano not cracking the roster, though both became free agents at season’s end. Higashioka went on to sign with the Rangers.
The only two backstops on San Diego’s 40-man roster at present are Campusano and Brett Sullivan. The former is a former top prospect with some flashes of brilliance, though he’s coming off an awful season, as mentioned. The latter is about to turn 31 years old and has a .206/.243/.299 batting line in just 40 games at the major league level.
In short, it’s a sensible matchup for several reasons. Maldonado lands in a spot with perhaps his best chance of getting back to the big leagues. The Padres get a skilled veteran without having to give up a roster spot. It hasn’t been reported what salary Maldonado would make if he cracks the roster but it surely won’t be a huge number.
Nice get, but grab Elias again too please!
Wonder if Elias is holding out for MLB deal? Probably can get multiple Milb offers at last minute before ST.
Might as well. Pretty much anyone would sign him to minor deal. Get mlb deal or a super friendly opt out deal.
Good veteran to work with young catchers and pitchers. Stats say he can’t throw anymore so combine with his bat he looks to be toast if you actually had to play him.
They could have taken a flyer on local guy Rob Brantly for cheaper. And, he hits from the left side. He can also play 1B and pitch.
How do you know Brantly still wants to play?
I don’t. It was more of a feeble attempt at humor/sarcasm, with a side of possible truth if he did. I apologize if I offended you.
Ah, you were joking. But I will still say it. Martin Maldonado has more MLB 1b and P experience than Rob Brantley.
His 2024 stays may have been the worse stats I’ve ever seen.
Simm: He used to be good defensively but he wasn’t last year. If the Sox release you, you know it’s time to reevaluate your career. My thinking is, he’ll eventually be a coach which he should’ve started doing last season.
Yeah I agree
If you were forced to play for the White Sox last season its time to reevaluate your career. HAHAHAHA
I agree with you that he will be a coach on the field for Campusano and Salas in camp and then whoever is in AAA to start the season.
I’D like to be forced to play for 4.25 mil.
Twist my arm. MAKE me play with this god awful bunch of miscreants and just plain awful baseball players. I will happily watch the team lose a record number of games. Just give me my money.
Wow, the Padres are going to replace the Rays as the team with the worst hitting catching corps! I like Campusano, and am rooting for him to turn it around, but he certainly didn’t look good last year.
Brett Sullivan may have a chance to play in the big leagues in 2025!
Hoping the wrist injury was the cause of the problem.
It wasn’t. He’s been bad every chance he’s gotten
Thanks for the insight Dr Wallabee.
His wrist was hurt in May in a series against the Dodgers and he wasn’t right after that. hopefully its fully healed.
Front offices should be applauded for making this a very boring and hopeless past week for their fanbases
This dude is about as done as done gets.
He was done a year before the Astros booted him out.
I think the Padres are set up to make the deals they need to once Sasaki makes his choice. No idea what, but we could have resigned Profar by now. Likely waiting on whatever deals need to be made. It’s probably going to all happen the middle of next week.
Friarguy: It seems inevitable that Profar will be back with the Padres. He plays his best baseball with them and he’s relatively cheap.
Profar wants a nice 3 or 4 year deal. After last year he hopes not to be relatively cheap.
We should be worried since the season starts tomorrow right?! Hahahahaha
I thought before the 2024 season he said he wanted to spent more time with his family.
After that abysmal 2024 season, he still doesn’t want to spend more time with them?
After spring training he will have plenty of time.
His wife realized she’s married to a .119 hitter and kicked him out the house.
Loved the guy when he was an Astro but his specialty was defense. Now that’s gone too. Time to hang it up.
He was the lead leader in passed balls and the worst at framing.
His last year there. He was done then. His other years he was very good.
This is it boys. This is the move that gets us into the WS.
I guess as a backup they could do worse…
Not really sure about that.
If the season started today (thankfully it doesn’t) I actually think they would be better off having Brett Sullivan as the backup. At least he can hit above the Mendoza line
Rsox – No, they couldn’t.
…and then he hit .098/1.22/1.34 in little league
Hellbent on getting his career batting line below .200
Well that should excite Sasaki and help with his recruitment. Not!
He hit .119 last year. He could be Johnny Bench behind the plate and still not worth it.
That was just bad luck. He should have hit .160 .170
Why won’t this guy ever retire???
I betcha he can still get you a clutch HBP.
A la Roger Dorn lol
There is a lawsuit by Seidler’s wife contesting the current ownership/management structure. .I’m not sure if there is/are a response(s) filed with the Court. But how does Preller operate in this environment? In comparison to a “budget” or whose budget, what is going on? The Padres seem a mess.
Mark,
Matt and Bob Seidler have not filed a response yet or even the documents Matt said in his release to the LA media would exonerate him of at least the part of the suit where he tried to name his brother John as control person. Even though hearings on Sheel Seidler’s requests for temporary injunctions which would remove Matt as trustee started Tuesday, no filings have been made from either party being sued.
Right now everything is back to where it was when Peter died. Eric Kutsenda is the control person. He will continue to be the interim control person until the lawsuit is decided. Kutsenda, Greupner, and Preller have said this offseason that the 2025 payroll is going to be somewhere between where it ended up in 2023 and where it ended up last season. Preller said that he has the flexibility to go after any player if he felt they would make the team better.
The mess is going to be what happens to the Seidlers.
This is just a “depth move”.
Once Sasaki signs with the Padres or elsewhere, then the Peller will swing 2-3 trades and patch all the holes in this roster.
If Sasaki becomes a Padre, then Dylan Cease for a package of 2-3 great young players/major league ready prospects.
Orioles need a #1 Starter and they like Dylan Cease a lot.
Orioles have too many young position players blocked at the major league level.
Catcher/1B Sam Basallo would be a good start to a deal with the Orioles.
RHSP Chayce McDermott could slot right into the Padres ’25 rotation
Heston Kjerstad or Dylan Beavers could play LF for the Padres.
Or substitute Coby Mayo for Kjerstad or Beavers .
“Dylan Cease for a package of 2-3 great young players/major league ready prospects.”
I think Cease is an excellent pitcher but I doubt they would get that return for him.
Reports are that at the Winter Meetings when the Red Sox asked what it would take to get Cease, Preller said Mayer, Abreu, Fitts, and Gonzalez. A top 10 overall prospect, an MLB LF, a #5 starter, and an MLB ready starting pitcher.
Just watched a clip of a Cubs game from 2012 when Uecker sat in with Brenley for an inning telling stories and Maldonado was catching for the Crew. He’s probably the last player from that game on those two teams still active in MLB, or at least trying to be. And if he gets a few a more ABs with no hits he just might tie Uecker with a career .200 BA.
Why not just bring Francisco Mejia back on a minor league contract?
Organization is familiar with him and probably still has some chance of unlocking something at 29 compared to 38 year old Maldonado.
Last 2 years Mejias had an OPS of .645 and .658
Certainly not the worst for a catcher.