Maldonado was released by the White Sox after he cleared waivers Sunday, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports.
The veteran catcher was designated for assignment by Chicago on Wednesday, and it's hardly a surprise he passed through waivers unclaimed. Maldonado has a .119/.174/.230 slash line in 147 plate appearances this season and may have a tough time finding another landing spot in the big leagues.
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White Sox's Martin Maldonado: Dropped from 40-man
Rotowire
The White Sox designated Maldonado for assignment Wednesday, Ken Rosenthal and Chandler Rome of The Athletic report.
After slashing .119/.174/.230 across 147 plate appearances during what has been the worst season of his career at the plate, Maldonado has now officially lost his roster spot with the White Sox. Given his poor performance, the 37-year-old backstop will most likely pass through waivers unclaimed, at which point he would have the option to elect free agency.
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White Sox's Martin Maldonado: Unlikely source of power
Rotowire
Maldonado went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in the second game of Wednesday's doubleheader against the Twins.
Maldonado entered July with only one home run for the season, but he's now slugged three long balls in his last four games. He'll remain the clear backup to Korey Lee on the depth chart and has typically been drawing a start every three games.
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White Sox's Martin Maldonado: Ends power drought
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Maldonado went 2-for-5 with a home run, two runs scored the three RBI in Wednesday's 8-2 win over the Guardians.
The veteran backstop belted a two-run shot off Tim Herrin in the eighth inning, giving Maldonado his second homer of the year and first since Apr. 26. The 37-year-old has had a miserable season at the plate even by his own poor standards, slashing .096/.144/.160 through 135 plate appearances with a career-worst 34.8 percent strikeout rate, but the White Sox seem content with his defensive contributions when he's in the lineup.
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White Sox's Martin Maldonado: Filling in for resting Lee
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Maldonado will start at catcher and bat ninth in Thursday's game against Atlanta.
Top backstop Korey Lee is getting a breather for the day game after he started at catcher in each of the previous three days, so Maldonado will get a turn behind the plate. Maldonado is valued for his defense, but with an .088/.140/.132 slash line and a minus-24 wRC+, he's been the league's least-productive hitter among all players with at least 100 plate appearances this season.
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White Sox's Martin Maldonado: Catching while Lee serves as DH
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Maldonado will start at catcher and bat ninth in Wednesday's game against the Blue Jays.
Korey Lee remains the White Sox's No. 1 backstop, but he'll serve as the designated hitter Wednesday to open up a start behind the plate for Maldonado. The 37-year-old backstop has gone hitless in his last six starts and carries a lowly .083/.135/.131 slash line into Wednesday's contest.
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White Sox's Martin Maldonado: Slugs first homer
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Maldonado went 2-for-4 with a three-run homer and scored twice in Friday's 9-4 win over Tampa Bay.
Maldonado hasn't exactly been the greatest offensive catcher in the big leagues this season, as his sixth-inning three-run homer gave him his first three RBI of 2024. The 37-year-old is still batting just .087 on the year, and fantasy managers should not expect him to have many more games similar to Friday's showing.
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White Sox's Martin Maldonado: Falls into timeshare
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Maldonado is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Twins.
Maldonado has fallen into a timeshare behind the dish with Korey Lee, with both backstops having now made four starts apiece over the past eight games. Even in AL-only leagues, Maldonado won't retain much fantasy value while he's hitting .048 on the season and not even playing on a regular basis.
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White Sox's Martin Maldonado: Sitting Monday
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Maldonado is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Twins.
Maldonado and Korey Lee have now alternated turns behind the dish over the past six games, with both backstops drawing three starts apiece. With the White Sox sitting at 3-18 on the season and already shaping up as non-contenders, the 37-year-old Maldonado could become less of a priority as the campaign rolls along and the organization aims to get more of an evaluation of the 25-year-old Lee.
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White Sox's Martin Maldonado: Sits down Saturday
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Maldonado isn't in the White Sox's lineup for Saturday's game against the Phillies.
Maldonado is just 2-for-35 through 14 games, and he'll sit down as the White Sox look to get more production from the catcher position. Korey Lee will start at catcher and bat eighth.
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White Sox's Martin Maldonado: Sitting for nightcap
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Maldonado isn't in the White Sox's lineup for the second game of Wednesday's doubleheader against the Royals.
Maldonado went 0-for-2 with two strikeouts during Game 1, lowering his batting average down to .061. He'll be replaced behind the dish by Korey Lee, who will bat eighth.
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White Sox's Martin Maldonado: Resting Sunday
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Maldonado is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Reds.
Maldonado will get a breather in the series finale after he caught both of the previous two days while going hitless across six at-bats. Korey Lee gets the nod behind the dish Sunday.
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White Sox's Martin Maldonado: On bench Wednesday
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Maldonado is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Guardians.
Maldonado will retreat to the bench for the series finale after catching in four of Chicago's last five games. Korey Lee will step in behind the plate in Maldonado's stead and will bat sixth.
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White Sox's Martin Maldonado: Not in Monday's lineup
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Maldonado is not in the lineup for Monday's contest in Cleveland, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
Korey Lee will do the catching for opener Tanner Banks. Maldonado had started each of the previous games and has now been behind the plate in seven of the White Sox' 10 contests thus far.
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White Sox's Martin Maldonado: Sitting Thursday
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Maldonado isn't in the White Sox's lineup for Thursday's game against the Royals.
Maldonado remains hitless through his first 11 at-bats of the season, and he will get a day off Thursday as Korey Lee starts behind the plate and bats ninth.
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White Sox's Martin Maldonado: Looking for first hit
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Maldonado will start at catcher and bat eighth in Monday's game against Atlanta.
After resting in Sunday's 3-2 loss to the Tigers, Maldonado will be back behind the dish for the series opener versus Atlanta while backup catcher Korey Lee retreats to the bench. While starting the first two games of the season, Maldonado went 0-for-5 with a walk and two strikeouts in losses to the Tigers. Despite coming off a season in which he posted a lowly .606 OPS over 407 plate appearances for Houston, Maldonado should see the majority of the starts at catcher for the White Sox in 2024 thanks mainly to his reputation as a defender and game caller.
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White Sox's Martin Maldonado: Inks deal with White Sox
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Maldonado signed a one-year contract with the White Sox on Tuesday, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.
Per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, the deal is for $4 million and also includes a $4 million vesting option for 2025. With the White Sox searching for a solution behind the plate, they will bring in Maldonado to reunite with Korey Lee in Chicago's catcher room. The 37-year-old Maldonado will likely still have the upper hand over Lee in the battle for playing time, but after slashing .183/.260/.333 across the past three seasons, Maldonado's days as a viable fantasy option are seemingly over.
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Astros' Martin Maldonado: Pads lead Wednesday
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Maldonado went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 8-3 win over the Mariners.
Maldonado is hitting .224 (11-for-49) with four homers and eight RBI over 16 games in September. That's an improvement on his .193 batting average for the year, and he's up to 15 homers this season. The catcher has added a mediocre .616 OPS, 36 RBI, 33 runs scored and 12 doubles through 114 contests in 2023.
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Astros' Martin Maldonado: Sitting again Sunday
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Maldonado is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Royals, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.
It's the second straight game on the bench for Maldonado, though he's still started behind the plate in four of Houston's past seven contests. Yainer Diaz will step in to catch for Hunter Brown on Sunday.
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Astros' Martin Maldonado: Heads to bench
Rotowire
Maldonado will be on the bench for Saturday's game against the Royals.
Maldonado is hitting .189/.258/.343 on the season and has graded out five runs worse than any other catcher at framing pitches (per Statcast). Even with rookie backstop Yainer Diaz breaking out to the tune of a .286/.310/.551 slash line, Maldonado remains Houston's primary catcher, though his off day Saturday means he only has a 5-4 advantage in starts over the last nine games.
