Former Astros champion gets DFA’d by White Sox

One former MLB champion has managed to get DFA’d by the worst team in baseball.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported Wednesday that catcher Martin Maldonado has been designated for assignment by the Chicago White Sox. The move ends Maldonado’s tenure with the White Sox after just 48 games.

Maldonado, 37, is a former Gold Glove winner who was also the starter behind the plate on the Houston Astros’ 2022 World Series team. He has always had below-average offense but usually made up for it with his pitch-framing and game-management skills.

But after signing with the White Sox in the offseason, the wheels really fell off the bus for Maldonado. He was out there making Mario Mendoza look like Tony Gwynn this season with his .119 batting average (that was actually sub-.100 for most of the year) and an almost impossible-to-believe OPS+ of 14 (for reference, 100 is league average).

It is possible that Maldonado could still get a look from a contender who is in need of a late-inning defensive backup. But not even the 27-71 White Sox, who have been a true comedy of errors all season, want anything to do with Maldonado anymore.