Former Chicago White Sox catcher Martín Maldonado is reportedly retiring from Major League Baseball after a 15-season run.

Maldonado spent the 2025 season with the San Diego Padres, appearing in 64 games before being released on August 6.

He steps away from the game with a reputation rooted not in the box score, but in the dugout and behind the plate. Maldonado carved out a career thanks to his game-calling, leadership, and trust from pitching staffs across the league. That reputation is maybe best proven by the fact that teams kept signing him despite years of brutal offensive production.

He hit just .204 with a .572 OPS for San Diego this season, and they still kept him on the roster into August.

It’s a miracle he even got another contract after what happened with the White Sox in 2024 — a season where he batted an almost unbelievable .119 with a .403 OPS in 48 games.

And yet even the White Sox — in a historically bad season filled with historically bad production across the board — didn’t cut him loose until July.

Maldonado did flash some respectable power, most notably during his run in Houston, where he posted three straight double-digit home run seasons from 2021–2023. At 230 pounds with a catcher’s thick lower half, he swung with intent. And when he actually squared a ball up, he could launch it a long way — even if those moments were few and far between.

In his entire 15-year career, Maldonado never posted an OPS+ above league average (100). And still, he made it to seven different teams, suited up 1,230 times, and became a veteran that organizations trusted to shepherd young pitchers and catchers alike.

Maldonado retires with 731 career hits, 119 home runs, and a career fWAR of 11.1. Spotrac lists his career earnings at $30,710,356.

Not bad for a baseball player that couldn't hit his weight (literally) in any season over the last decade. 

Legacy isn’t always loud. Maldonado’s career is proof that in a sport obsessed with numbers on the scoreboard, there’s still value in the catcher who knows the room, knows the pitcher, and knows what it takes to win.

Did I mention his 2022 World Series ring or Gold Glove Award from 2017?

White Sox fans won’t shed a tear knowing Maldonado’s playing days are officially over. But in all sincerity — congratulations on one hell of a run, Martín. Fifteen years in the show is no joke, and it wouldn’t be a surprise at all to see you back in a dugout soon. There’s a coaching staff in Major League Baseball waiting for you whenever you’re ready.