Martín Maldonado has a strong reputation for working with pitching staffs.
The Chicago White Sox signed the 37-year-old catcher to a one-year deal Tuesday, a source confirmed to the Tribune.
Terms have not been disclosed. According to the New York Post and MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, who first reported the signing, the deal includes an option year.
Maldonado has a career .207/.282/.349 slash line with 111 home runs and 361 RBIs in 1,118 games during 13 seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers (2011-16), Los Angeles Angels (2017-18), Houston Astros (2018, 2019-23), Kansas City Royals (2019) and Chicago Cubs (2019).
He hit .191 with 15 homers and 36 RBIs in 116 games for the Astros in 2023. He has appeared in each of the last six postseasons with the Astros, winning a World Series championship in 2022.
Maldonado is the second catcher the Sox have added this offseason. They acquired Max Stassi in a trade from the Atlanta Braves on Dec. 9.
Catchers Korey Lee and Carlos Pérez are also on the 40-man roster.
Maldonado made an impact on Lee, who played in the Astros organization before being dealt to the Sox on July 28.
“I got to be around Martín Maldonado, I got to learn from him, I got to see how he managed a pitching staff at that end,” Lee said in August of his time in the majors with the Astros in 2022. “Learned how he communicated with pitchers and it taught me a lot. I’m going to carry that further into my career and make it my way, but he taught me how to be a professional catcher.”
Maldonado brings that, and his big-game experience, to the Sox.