The Free Agents: Martin Maldonado

Part 5 - A look at the Astros free agents to be

Nov 03, 2023

Maldy

By all accounts, Martin Maldonado is a great guy, whether inside the clubhouse or out. I haven’t heard anyone dispute that.

And there was a time not so long ago, that it was obvious he added something to the team, whether his batting average showed it or not.

Those days are in the rearview.

It is almost comical the way players, both present and past, revere Maldonado and just when I thought it couldn’t get any more ridiculous, Carlos Correa said Maldonado was worth 15 wins to the Astros.

I’m not naive to what a catcher can add to a team, but 15 wins added is epic hyperbole, so hyperbolic that it makes one wonder if he actually adds anything at this point of his career.

Yes, the Astros went out and got Maldonado in 2018 and acquired him again in 2019.

I don’t think anyone disputes Maldonado was an important part of those teams.

That said, 6 years ago is a lifetime in baseball, especially for a catcher.

He’s simply not the same player now as he was then.

In other cases, I’ve added a poll in this spot. However, in this case, Dana Brown has spoken. Literally.

Yainer Diaz is the guy in 2024.

Perhaps it’s my bias, but I struggled to find anything positive about Maldonado, especially on the offensive side, other than 15 home runs) and slashing .239/.316/.500 against LHPs in 2023.

While “automatic out” may be too harsh, Maldonado’s various splits are just as harsh. A sample:

.103/.152/.264 leading off an inning
.205/.294/.323 with 2 outs
.156/.250/.271 with RISP
.091/.231/.091 with runner on 3rd and less than 2 outs
.200/.280/.356 in Late/Close situations.

I could go on, but there’s no need.

Defensively, Maldonado recorded -18 outs framing (1st percentile, as in really bad), 75th percentile in Blocks Above Average, 71st percentile in Caught Stealing Above Average, and 70th percentile in Pop Time.

Yainer Diaz has better numbers in every one of those categories.

Maldonado made $4,000,000 in 2023.

The Verdict

The above Tweet makes it clear that Yainer Diaz is the guy in 2024 behind the plate for the Astros.

It’s time to move on. If Maldonado desires to continue playing, perhaps there’s a role as a backup catcher, especially against tough LHPs (Diaz slashed .214/.243/.378 in 103 PA against LHPs), but given the words by Brown, the chances of that happening are effectively zero.

Maldonado started 116 games at catcher in 2023 and Diaz 42. Those numbers should be reversed, at a minimum, no matter who the backup is.

Read about the other Astros free agents to be: