Tigers To Hire Martín Maldonado As Quality Control Coach

Former major league catcher Martín Maldonado has lined up his next job in baseball. Maldonado will serve as the Tigers’ quality control coach, Chandler Rome and Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic report.

This will reunite Maldonado with Tigers manager A.J. Hinch and former teammate Framber Valdez. Maldonado played for the Hinch-led Astros for parts of the 2018 and ’19 seasons, and he was with Valdez in Houston through 2023. As Rome and Stavenhagen note, Valdez has thrown more innings to Maldonado than any other backstop. Maldonado caught the left-hander for the Astros’ World Series-clinching victory over the Phillies in 2022 and was behind the plate for Valdez’s no-hitter in 2023. The Tigers brought in Valdez on a three-year, $115MM contract in free agency last winter, but he fell short of expectations with a 4.03 ERA and similar underlying numbers over 174 innings.

Maldonado, a defensive specialist who suited up for seven MLB teams and won a Gold Glove during his 15-year career, announced his retirement last October. The 40-year-old did not spend any time away from the game, though, as he served as a special assistant with the Braves this season. Maldonado will now take over a position that Billy Boyer previously held in Detroit. The Tigers created the opening last July when they shifted Boyer to third base coach to replace Joey Cora.

Teams have “coveted” Maldonado since he hung up his cleats, per Rome and Stavenhagen.  Astros senior adviser Jeff Bagwell even led an unsuccessful attempt to hire Maldonado to their coaching staff last season, according to The Athletic scribes. Regarded as a future major league skipper, Maldonado will manage Indios de Mayaguez of the Puerto Rican Winter League this year.