4 minutes ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

I think both of these make sense.  The Braves are paying for almost all of Stassi’s salary.  The Sox literally acquired him for a minimum salary price.  #2 aligns with the rumors that the Sox are looking for a big pitching return, which is going to be annoying if they don’t get two positional prospects back for Cease.

Yeah, Stassi at the league minimum is worth a gamble even if you end up cutting him.  Having said that, it does feel like #2 is playing some role here.  And  while I’m not against the right pitching heavy Cease trade, I hope it’s because we are getting legit stud arms and not settling for prospects with MOR ceilings.

8 minutes ago, Tnetennba said:

This makes sense, except Maldonado is probably done as a productive player and won't be helping much on the field.

I don’t disagree, but check out Stassi’s 2022 season and Korey Lee in general…our catching situation is somewhere in between a complete wild card and a hot mess.  I wouldn’t put much faith in Maldonado, but I wouldn’t be shocked if he were more productive than Stassi & Lee next year.

I’m very curious about the money here.  Anything above like $2M seems like really stupid spending.

27 minutes ago, Tnetennba said:

Oh Chuck...

 

I keep saying they're going to lose 110 games. I'm being facetious and yet...

14 minutes ago, Bob Sacamano said:

He could still be a good game caller even if his D isn’t what it used to be.

You will get this thing where every time a pitcher has a good game they praise him, and every time a pitcher has a bad game it’s the pitchers fault. 

Any younger catchers will get the exact opposite treatment.

No one will ever evaluate whether he’s doing a good job of game calling it will just be asserted.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/12/white-sox-martin-maldonado-nearing-agreement.html

Quote

Outside of the shortened 2020 campaign, Maldonado has never hit at an average level in the big leagues. He is one of the sport’s least impactful hitters overall. In more than 3700 career plate appearances, the right-handed batter owns a .207/.282/.349 line. He hasn’t approached the Mendoza line in three years, running a .183/.260/.333 slash going back to the start of 2021.

Among 226 hitters with at least 1000 plate appearances over that stretch, only Joey Gallo has a lower batting average. Maldonado has the worst on-base mark of the group, while he’s fifth from the bottom in slugging. That the Astros nevertheless relied on him as their #1 catcher on some of the best rosters in MLB speaks to how highly the coaches and pitching staff felt about his presence behind the plate.

For most of his career, Maldonado has indeed rated as an excellent defensive catcher. That was not the case last season. Statcast graded him as the worst pitch framer among qualified backstops. He only threw out 14% of attempted basestealers, roughly six percentage points below the league mark. That’s perhaps more a reflection of the Houston pitching staff than Maldonado, as Statcast ranked him 23rd among 81 catchers (minimum 10 throws) in average pop time to second base.

 

Edited December 27, 20232 yr by WhiteSox2023

4 minutes ago, Timmy U said:

I keep saying they're going to lose 110 games. I'm being facetious and yet...

They’re a Robert injury away from having a similar talent level to the A’s from last season

14 minutes ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

The Astros decided to dump Maldonado for Caratini.  That’s pretty much all that anyone needs to know.  But I’m sure Getz is right over the Astros, haha.

In no world would Caratini pick the White Sox over the Astros. As a backup this move if fine. He'll provide some much needed leadership and the young arms on this team will like throwing to him.

4 minutes ago, Timmy U said:

I keep saying they're going to lose 110 games. I'm being facetious and yet...

110 if they are lucky.

2 minutes ago, CWSpalehoseCWS said:

In no world would Caratini pick the White Sox over the Astros. As a backup this move if fine. He'll provide some much needed leadership and the young arms on this team will like throwing to him.

Agreed, but my point was that the Astros likely know Maldonado is done so they moved on.

”Statcast graded him as the worst pitch framer among qualified backstops. He only threw out 14% of attempted basestealers, roughly six percentage points below the league mark. That’s perhaps more a reflection of the Houston pitching staff than Maldonado, as Statcast ranked him 23rd among 81 catchers (minimum 10 throws) in average pop time to second base.”

Edited December 27, 20232 yr by WhiteSox2023

1 minute ago, CWSpalehoseCWS said:

In no world would Caratini pick the White Sox over the Astros. As a backup this move if fine. He'll provide some much needed leadership and the young arms on this team will like throwing to him.

Yep, need all the leadership they can get since the manager is pathetic 

I'd say "stick a fork in him" but all my forks are currently in Benintendi, DeJong, and Stassi.

Garfien is out here selling this move hard on twitter. Woof. 

2 minutes ago, Tnetennba said:

Garfien is out here selling this move hard on twitter. Woof. 

He’s exactly the kind of guy who will praise Maldonado when a pitcher has a good game and rip the pitcher when he has a bad game. Watch. 

53 minutes ago, SoCalChiSox said:

So it will be Stassi/Maldonado basically splitting the time then?

I'm assuming it's like a super cheap deal.

Sure would like to hear they are making some headway on moving Cease and Eloy for some real pieces. 

Do you consider $3m a super cheap deal?

5 minutes ago, Tnetennba said:

Garfien is out here selling this move hard on twitter. Woof. 

Wow, he really is.  When you know your team is going to lose around 100 games, how can you even stoop to the level of hyping up a dirt cheap acquisition of a 37 year old catcher that was finally dumped by the team that favored him most?

Edited December 27, 20232 yr by WhiteSox2023

Final Jeopardy answer: In 2023, he managed to be worse offensively and defensively than Yasmani Grandal, while being over 2 years older. (Who is Martin Maldonado?)

I have very little faith in Korey Lee so bringing in catching depth makes sense to me. Maldonado stinks, but maybe he can help the young pitchers. 
 

And I have no why idea people are mentioning $ as a concern at all. Who cares? The team stinks, the payroll is very low as is, and Getz isn’t/shouldn’t be looking to sign any free agents to multi year deals right now. Maldonado could make $1M or $8M and it’s 100% irrelevant 

1 minute ago, TheFutureIsNear said:

I have very little faith in Korey Lee so bringing in catching depth makes sense to me. Maldonado stinks, but maybe he can help the young pitchers. 
 

And I have no why idea people are mentioning $ as a concern at all. Who cares? The team stinks, the payroll is very low as is, and Getz isn’t/shouldn’t be looking to sign any free agents to multi year deals right now. Maldonado could make $1M or $8M and it’s 100% irrelevant 

Playing bad players is not going to help pitchers.

6 minutes ago, SoxFest23 said:

Do you consider $3m a super cheap deal?

Yes

2 minutes ago, Timmy U said:

Final Jeopardy answer: In 2023, he managed to be worse offensively and defensively than Yasmani Grandal, while being over 2 years older. (Who is Martin Maldonado?)

One thing that will never change with the White Sox, no matter who is in charge.  The neverending search to sign cheap over-the-hill veteran players hoping they can squeeze one more productive season out of them, yet it never happens and they end up cutting these guys and eating a few million by the end of their contracts.  I wonder when and if the Sox will ever learn that this strategy barely ever works for them.

2 minutes ago, Timmy U said:

Final Jeopardy answer: In 2023, he managed to be worse offensively and defensively than Yasmani Grandal, while being over 2 years older. (Who is Martin Maldonado?)

If statcast rated Grandal higher than Maldonado defensively that should tell you everything you need to know about statcast and I had zero use for it before.  Sheesh.   

3 minutes ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

If statcast rated Grandal higher than Maldonado defensively that should tell you everything you need to know about statcast and I had zero use for it before.  Sheesh.   

Martin Maldonado can’t be bad because people have always said he’s good and that never changes so I don’t need to listen to anything that says he was.

Logical. Flawlessly logical.

10 minutes ago, TheFutureIsNear said:

I have very little faith in Korey Lee so bringing in catching depth makes sense to me. Maldonado stinks, but maybe he can help the young pitchers. 
 

And I have no why idea people are mentioning $ as a concern at all. Who cares? The team stinks, the payroll is very low as is, and Getz isn’t/shouldn’t be looking to sign any free agents to multi year deals right now. Maldonado could make $1M or $8M and it’s 100% irrelevant 

Other than we could spending the money on better flip candidates?

So who puts up the best slash line in 2024?

Benintendi, DeJong, Little Nicky, or Maldonado?

Good god, we are actually starting these four bums.

Edited December 27, 20232 yr by WhiteSox2023