Martín Maldonado’s next stop in baseball is Detroit.
The former major league catcher is set to join the Tigers as their quality control coach, according to Chandler Rome and Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic. It’s a move that puts Maldonado back alongside A.J. Hinch, the manager he played for during parts of the 2018 and 2019 seasons with Houston.
There’s another familiar face waiting in the Tigers’ clubhouse setup, too. Maldonado and Framber Valdez spent years together in Houston, and Rome and Stavenhagen note that Valdez has thrown more innings to Maldonado than any other catcher. Their history includes some of the biggest moments of Valdez’s career: Maldonado was behind the plate when the Astros clinched the World Series against the Phillies in 2022, and he also caught Valdez’s no-hitter in 2023.
Detroit signed Valdez to a three-year, $115MM deal in free agency last winter, but his first season with the Tigers didn’t match the expectation that came with the contract. He finished with a 4.03 ERA and similar underlying numbers over 174 innings.
Maldonado, who built a 15-year career as a defense-first catcher and won a Gold Glove while playing for seven MLB teams, announced his retirement last October. He hasn’t been away from the sport for long, though. This season, he worked as a special assistant with the Braves.
The Tigers are filling a position that was opened last July, when Billy Boyer moved from quality control coach to third base coach after Joey Cora was replaced. Maldonado now takes over that role in Detroit.
Even after his playing days ended, Maldonado stayed on the radar of teams looking for coaching help. Rome and Stavenhagen report that clubs have “coveted” him, and they add that Astros senior adviser Jeff Bagwell made an unsuccessful run at bringing him onto Houston’s coaching staff last season.
Maldonado will also manage Indios de Mayaguez of the Puerto Rican Winter League this year, adding another layer to a post-playing career that appears to be moving quickly.
In Other News...
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Tarik Skubals future has become one of those rare offseason storylines that can actually make Detroit feel like a real player in a market it usually has to navigate carefully. The left-hander, now with the Dodgers, has made it clear he is open to a return to the Tigers, the organization that developed him, and that alone gives Detroit a thread worth following as the team looks for ways to stay relevant in the pitching market.
What gives the Tigers some hope is the timing around the Dodgers and the broader uncertainty hanging over MLB economics. Industry insiders believe Los Angeles may be reluctant to rush into a long-term extension, and that could create a window for another club to make its case. Detroit is viewed as a possible contender if it decides to push hard enough financially, but whether that opening turns into anything real will come down to how aggressive the Tigers are willing to be in a complicated free-agent landscape. [Read more 🡒]
Zach McKinstry Just Put The Tigers In An Interesting Spot
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For the Tigers, the timing makes this especially interesting because McKinstry is entering his final arbitration year before free agency. He was already on the Gold Glove ballot once before, in 2023, but this nomination comes with a little more weight attached to it since a win could strengthen his case in salary talks. Detroit has leaned on his flexibility, and now it has to wait and see whether that same do-it-all skill set comes with an award to match. [Read more 🡒]
Tigers Fans May Need To Rethink The Tarik Skubal Trade
Tarik Skubals exit from Detroit looked like the kind of move that only makes sense in the harsh math of a lost season. The Tigers dealt the injured left-hander to the Dodgers after he went down with an elbow issue and the club slipped out of playoff contention, getting three players back in a trade that was framed around restocking for the future.
Now the picture may not be so simple. With Los Angeles out of the NLCS and a looming MLB lockout hanging over the market, there is growing speculation the Dodgers might not rush into a long-term commitment for Skubal, which could leave the door open for free agency sooner than expected. If Detroits return produces even one legitimate major leaguer, the deal could start to look like a sharper bit of business than it did on the day it was made. [Read more 🡒]