CHICAGO – The Chicago White Sox have agreed to terms on a one-year, $4.25-million contract with catcher Martín Maldonado, which includes a club option for 2025, and have designated infielder Zach Remillard for assignment.
Under terms of the agreement, Maldonado will receive $4 million in 2024, with a $4-million club option for 2025 that includes a $250,000 buyout.
Maldonado, 37, hit .191/.258/.348 (69-362) with 12 doubles, a career-high tying 15 home runs, 36 RBI and 33 runs scored over 116 games with Houston last season. He tied for the American League lead with 116 starts at catcher, and his 3.91 catcher’s ERA ranked sixth in the major leagues. Maldonado caught his third career no-hitter on August 1, 2023 vs. Cleveland (Framber Valdez).
A 6-foot, 225-pound native of Toa Alta, Puerto Rico, Maldonado won the 2017 AL Gold Glove Award as a member of the Angels and was a finalist for the honor in 2021 with the Astros. He ranks among the MLB catching leaders since the start of the 2017 season in games (2nd, 756), starts (2nd, 730), innings (2nd, 6,320.2), assists (T2nd, 320), runners caught stealing (4th, 97), catcher’s ERA (4th, 3.85), fielding percentage (T7th, .995) and pickoffs (13th, 7).
Maldonado has appeared in 65 career postseason games (2018-23), all with Houston. He was a member of the Astros’ 2022 World Series winning team, and the 2019 and 2021 AL pennant-winning clubs. Maldonado made his 62nd career postseason start at catcher in Game 7 of the 2023 ALCS vs. Texas, surpassing Hall-of-Famer Yogi Berra for the third-most starts in baseball history. During his career, Maldonado has caught Cy Young Award winners Gerrit Cole, Zach Greinke, Dallas Keuchel and Justin Verlander, and All-Stars Lance McCullers Jr., Charlie Morton, Jake Odorizzi and Framber Valdez.
Maldonado is a career .207/.282/.349 (685-3,314) hitter with 129 doubles, 111 home runs, 361 RBI and 349 runs scored in 1,119 games over 13 major-league seasons with Milwaukee (2011-16), Los Angeles-AL (2017-18), Houston (2018, ’19-23), Kansas City (2019) and the Cubs (2019). He appeared in 74 games with the 2019 Royals during Pedro Grifol’s tenure as the club’s catching coach. Maldonado originally was selected by the Angels in the 27th round of the 2004 June First-Year Player Draft.
Remillard, 29, hit .252/.295/.320 (37-147) with seven doubles, one home run, 18 RBI and 16 runs scored in 54 games last season with the White Sox.
Following the moves, the White Sox 40-man roster remains at 40.
