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While the Houston Astros were the talk of the American League with their wild MLB trade deadline that resulted in Carlos Correa returning to Houston, the San Diego Padres went nuclear at the deadline. Between trades for Mason Miller and J.P. Sears of the Athletics, and prying Ryan O'Hearn and Ramon Laureano away from the Baltimore Orioles, the Padres were the talk of the deadline.
With the dust settling, the Padres were forced ot get their roster in order on Friday, and one of the victims was former Astros' World Series catcher Martin Maldonado. One of the smaller trades that the Padres made on Thursday was adding catcher Freddy Fermin from the Royals, and Maldonado was designated for assignment on Friday to make room.
Former Astros World Series hero Martin Maldonado just got dumped by MLB’s boldest deadline team
After a lifeless 2024 season with the Chicago White Sox, hitting under .120 through 147 plate appearances before being released in July, Maldonado found his way back to the majors with the Padres this season. There was improvement, hitting nearly 100 points better through 161 plate appearances, but an OPS+ of 58 is still an OPS+ of 58, no matter how you frame it.
First playing with the Astros in 2018, Maldonado became a favorite of former manager Dusty Baker during the team's run of ALCS appearances, with his last year with the team coming in 2023. Through 407 plate appearances that season, Maldonado hit under .200 but managed to tally 15 home runs. A favorite for the Astros' pitching staff, he seemed to always have a home in Houston--even during seasons in which it seemed his tenure was over.
Let's get ahead of the question before it's asked everywhere, no. The Astros should have no incentive to bring back Maldonado. Yainer Diaz and Victor Carratini are a fine catching tandem for the Astros, and Maldonado, simply put, is bad. That said, the same argument could have been had for Hector Neris and Jon Singleton, and each were brought back this season. So, bad doesn't always make a move impossible.