You aint lyin'. 47% (15 so vs 32 ab). Only 1 BB to go with it. Of qualified catchers, he has the lowest OPS (.215) of all of them, easily. Pretty much the lowest everything except strike outs. https://www.espn.com/mlb/stats/player/_/position/c/table/batting/sort/OPS/dir/desc
He's exceeded my very low expectation of him, with some playoff barrel, and generally not undermining the staff or the team. And that's all I needed to see. If he can hit a playoff homer or double, once every five games, think I'm good. And he's done that historically. We'll see.
The amount will matter, but assuming it’s <$5M/yr it’s a good deal. One less box to check next offseason and ensures they have adequate catching until Korey Lee is (hopefully) ready. Astros now only have 4 pending free agents: Verlander, Greinke, Correa, and Smith. Assuming $5M for Maldy next season, the roster now projects for ~$136M in aav totals next season including arbitration raises, with a talent level of ~40 fWAR, which would put them at ~85-95 wins. They’d have 3 glaring holes: CF (where Straw doesn’t look adequate and Leon may not be ready) SS/3B (to replace Correa) and ace (where they need someone to headline the existing group of McCullers, Valdez, Odorizzi, Urquidy, and Javier). Assuming Crane is still willing to take payrollup to the tax threshold, they’d have ~$50M to spend to fill those 3 spots.
Astros were basically ~40 fWAR projected for 2021 prior to the season, and will lose guys worth about 10 fWAR. Farm should add some value, but aging/injuries probably rob value and maybe a little more than farm adds unless someone breaks out. I can see spending up to the CBT getting the Astros to about 40 fWAR, but not as what they would have at ~136M in AAV.
“You know he’s not going to struggle forever, but unless you play a guy, he’ll never get out of his struggles,” manager Dusty Baker said Tuesday. “I’m still trying to figure that out exactly. Maldy’s working out big time in the (batting) cage. I don’t think he’s seeing the ball. He’s taking strikes and swinging at balls and so it’s a matter of concentration and confidence, which is why I haven’t (pinch) hit for him a couple times. You know his confidence, no matter how he acts, is low right now. I’m hoping he gets a couple knocks and some RBIs and then we’ll get back on the trail.” https://www.houstonchronicle.com/texas-sports-nation/astros/article/Astros-Martin-Maldonado-agree-contract-extension-16098190.php
Dusty does know that Maldonado barely bats above the Mendoza Line for his career, right? Lol. It is what it is with Maldonado though.
I wish the Astros would have given Wilson Ramos a look this past offseason. They could have easily done 1 year 2 million like Detroit.
Any chance he is signing for less than what he currently makes, they will start the extension now and it will give them a little extra money under the cap this year??
Click loves him some catchers that can't hit a lick. Maldy/Castro SMH Click, two of the worst hitting catchers in MLB. I get the need for defense behind the plate but this is ridiculous. Notice the only championship year was the year McCann was behind the plate. McCann hit a huge HR in game five.
A more relevant study would be WS winning catchers, and how many compare to Piazza and his ilk vs Ausmus and his.
Maldonado is a weak hitter for sure. But Castro isn’t. He strikes out a lot, but overall he is merely a below average hitter, which makes him a decent hitter for his position. Castro has been a 93 wRC+ hitter over his career. McCann was a 103 wRC+ hitter in 2017. And while Maldy has been an awful hitter over the course of his career, he was a good hitter last season, and on the surface there wasn’t anything that indicated that was a result of luck. It’s also worth mentioning that Maldonado/Castro will combine to cost about half what McCann made in 2017. All that said, it’s obvious Click values leadership and defense from his catchers over their offense. Valuing catching defense is one of the things I think orgs have a lot more information on that fans don’t have access to.
From when I have spoken to Goldstein about advances statistics and related topics, he said that catcher is the one area where intangibles and some specific team based analytics are very much figured into the equation. That was the case when Luhnow was in charge and obviously is still the case with Click now (although some of the same brain hive is still in Houston). I am not going to question the decision to extend him if it is reasonable. Multiple GM's and now coaches have seen something in Maldonado when exposed to him in Houston. That is fairly strong confirmation to me. That also doesn't even get into how the pitchers feel about him, which from what I have been told is that they praise him and he is possibly the hardest working catcher in the league when it comes to studying and researching hitters and he also is adept at adjusting depending on how the pitcher is going.... they all have confidence in him.
Agreed about Click valuing defense. I don't care what the numbers say Castro stinks with the bat. This is a case of your getting what you overpaid for in relation to the current Astros catchers vs McCann.
I value Maldy for the things in your post. However you gotta be able to hit better than Maldy has if you want to be a everyday catcher in MLB.
Free agent catchers next offseason. Astros would never entertain Ramos as a starting catcher because he is a butcher behind the plate no matter how much he rakes. Most of the guys with options will probably have them picked up except for Posey and maybe Perez. Overall, catchers suck in MLB. Alex Avila (35) Tucker Barnhart (31) — $7.5MM club option ($500K buyout) Welington Castillo (35) Robinson Chirinos (37) Travis d’Arnaud (33) Yan Gomes (34) Sandy Leon (33) Jeff Mathis (39) Yadier Molina (39) Roberto Perez (33) — $7MM club option ($450K buyout) Manny Pina (34) Buster Posey (35) — $22MM club option ($3MM buyout) Wilson Ramos (34) Austin Romine (33) Kurt Suzuki (38) Christian Vazquez (31) — $7MM club option ($250K buyout) Mike Zunino (31) – club option ($1MM buyout)
Ideally yeah, I just think they want to spend no real money on the position so they can spend more on other spots. It works if the rest of the order is good.
I do think having Maldonado/Castro puts more pressure on Straw/CF (and whoever replaces Correa). It’s fine having a relatively empty bat in the 9 hole if 1-8 are all star level hitters (assuming of course the weak 9 hole hitter justifies his spot with defense), but having 2 (or 3) empty bats just won’t work with how stacked lineups of contenders have to be these days.
This. The Astros can have a weak hitter in the 9 hole and be elite but they have to have strong options at 1-8. The Astros don’t even have to replace Correa with an equal player, just a good hitter. Indeed I think they would be better replacing CF/SS with two good players than a poor hitter in center and Avery good hitter at SS.
I was told internally the Astros are cautiously optimistic about Pedro Leon playing SS full time if they go that route. Surprising to me but told he is the best athlete in the entire organization with very quick reflexes and fast hands.
