The Royals have their replacement for Sal Perez, who’ll miss this season following Tommy John surgery. It’s Martin Maldonado, the elite defensive veteran backstop that so many teams seemingly would have loved to have as their backup, but none actually successfully courted.
And he’s coming cheap:
Free-agent catcher Martin Maldonado in agreement with #Royals on one-year, $2.5M contract, sources tell The Athletic. Deal, which is pending a physical, also includes $1.4M in incentives. Can re-enter market next offseason.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 9, 2019
The Cubs either believe they can pick up a veteran defense-first type at the end of the Spring, or they truly want to commit to Victor Caratini as Willson Contreras’s backup. I don’t necessarily have a HUGE problem with the latter plan so long as Caratini actually sees a lot of starts. I will be watching closely.
Aside from the baseball side of the signing, it seems like there will be some background drama to sort out:
More context: The Astros’ two-year offer to Martin Maldonado at the beginning of the winter was for $12m total. Mets also had serious interest before signing Wilson Ramos.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) March 8, 2019
Dan Lozano of MVP Sports Group responds: “If a deal was agreed to a few days ago, how come the player never gave his approval?There are some agents that care more about the fee than they do the player. I care about the player.” https://t.co/nUwCho9V4o
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 9, 2019
Talk about six or seven layers of miscommunication that must have been involved there. It sounds like Maldonado got some really bad advice, then got some really bad representation, and then things got really confusing.