Veteran catcher Martin Maldonado is drawing interest on the free agent market from the Miami Marlins and Chicago White Sox, among others.
Per a report from Chandler Rome of 'The Athletic' on Tuesday night:
The Astros’ impending signing of Vïctor Caratini will end Martín Maldonado’s tenure with the team. Maldonado is drawing interest from the Red Sox, Padres, Marlins and White Sox, people familiar with his market said.
In addition to the signing of Caratini, the Astros had already said they planned to give the starting catching job to Yanier Diaz.
As for Maldonado, the 37-year-old just wrapped up his 13th year in the big leagues with the Astros, Cubs, Royals, Angels and Brewers. He has been an integral part of the Astros in multiple iterations of their dynasty, playing for them in 2018 and then coming back for the back half 2019 until 2023. He helped Houston get to the World Series in 2019, 2021 and 2022, winning it in the latter year.
Never much at the plate, Maldonado is a lifetime .207 hitter who hit just .191 this past season. He did connect for 15 home runs but his real value is in how he handles a pitching staff.
For a Marlins team that features young hurlers like Eury Perez, Edward Cabrera and Jesus Luzardo, he could be of utmost importance to their growth.
The same could be said for a White Sox team that is rebuilding and will be giving innings to several youngsters in 2024.
The Red Sox and Padres are certainly closer to winning than those teams are and could use a veteran backstop to stabilize their rotations.
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