{"id":80407,"date":"2024-07-17T21:02:16","date_gmt":"2024-07-18T01:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=80407"},"modified":"2024-07-17T21:02:16","modified_gmt":"2024-07-18T01:02:16","slug":"white-sox-designate-martin-maldonado","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/07\/17\/white-sox-designate-martin-maldonado\/","title":{"rendered":"White Sox Shake Up Roster Before An Expected Busy Trade Deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Chicago White Sox made a flurry of roster moves on Wednesday. First, the team officially announced the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/07\/17\/white-sox-sign-nick-senzel\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">signing of infielder<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/senzeni01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-17_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nick Senzel<\/a> to a major league deal. To make room on the 40-man and active rosters, Chicago designated infielder <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mendida01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-17_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Danny Mendick<\/a> for assignment and optioned infielder <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/sosale01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-17_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lenyn Sosa<\/a> to Triple-A.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"zxx\"><a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ioNnLSt84D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/ioNnLSt84D<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/whitesox\/status\/1813676651898925396?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 17, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A couple of hours later, Ken Rosenthal and Chandler Rome of The Athletic reported that the White Sox would designate veteran catcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/maldoma01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.mlbtraderumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-17_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mart\u00edn Maldonado<\/a> for assignment. A corresponding move is expected before the team resumes play on Friday.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The White Sox have designated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/maldoma01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-17_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mart\u00edn Maldonado<\/a> for assignment, sources tell me and <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Chandler_Rome?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Chandler_Rome<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Ken_Rosenthal\/status\/1813703816614908250?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 17, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>White Sox Designate Mart\u00edn Maldonado for Assignment in Roster Shakeup<\/h2>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chicago signed Maldonado to a one-year deal this offseason hoping the veteran could guide a young pitching staff on a rebuilding team.\u00a0While the South Siders have seen some breakout pitching performances this year, Maldonado has not been effective enough with the bat.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 147 plate appearances across 48 games, Maldonado has hit .119\/.174\/.230 (14 OPS+) with an awful strikeout rate of 34.7 percent. While he notoriously has not been a good hitter throughout his career (72 OPS+ in 3,720 plate appearances entering 2024), this season\u2019s production has been outlandishly putrid.<\/p>\n<p>His numbers would look much worse if not for a mini-hot streak in July.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/maldoma01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-17_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Martin Maldonado<\/a> is hitting above .100 for the 1st time since May 14th! <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/sVOKJhAUS4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/sVOKJhAUS4<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Barstool Baseball (@StoolBaseball) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/StoolBaseball\/status\/1809380723159363815?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 6, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Perhaps even more troublesome, defensive metrics do not like his work behind the dish this year. He has already tallied -8 Defensive Runs Saved in 2024 after recording -10 last year.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To be fair, defensive metrics are not perfect and are considered to be especially faulty when grading catchers. Plus, Maldonado has a great reputation for his game-calling skills and knack for working with pitchers. These are two factors not calculated in defensive metrics.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, he turns 38 in August and could very well just be past his prime. If Maldonado didn\u2019t hold such a great defensive reputation, he would have been out of the game a long time ago. It\u2019s possible that the decline in his defensive metrics signals that his age is catching up to him.<\/p>\n<h3>An Imminent Youth Movement on the South Side of Chicago<\/h3>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After designating Maldonado for assignment, the White Sox have only rookie <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/l\/leeko01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-17_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Korey Lee<\/a> on the active roster. However, the former top Astros prospect has also struggled offensively (72 OPS+) this season in the starting role.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With the White Sox roster shakeup on Wednesday, the team has open spots on both the active and 40-man roster. This could forecast the promotion of top-prospect <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=quero-000edg&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-17_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Edgar Quero<\/a> from Triple-A.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Edgar Quero connects for his first Triple-A homer in his first game with <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KnightsBaseball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@KnightsBaseball<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/bhoU19jYVc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/bhoU19jYVc<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Pipeline to 35th (@PipelineTo35th) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PipelineTo35th\/status\/1809022057583145349?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 5, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chicago <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/07\/27\/trade-white-sox-angels\/\" target=\"_self\">acquired Quero<\/a> from the Los Angeles Angels at last summer\u2019s deadline and the prospect has hit at every level in the system. This includes a 142 wRC+ and a .275\/.360\/.463 slash line in 72 Double-A games this year. He has also hit well in just six Triple-A games.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Though it\u2019s just speculation at the moment, this is a potential move worth watching in the coming days.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: \u00a9 Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Chicago White Sox made a flurry of roster moves on Wednesday. First, the team officially announced the signing of infielder Nick Senzel to a major league deal. To make room on the 40-man and active rosters, Chicago designated infielder Danny Mendick for assignment and optioned infielder Lenyn Sosa to Triple-A. pic.twitter.com\/ioNnLSt84D \u2014 Chicago White [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4683,"featured_media":80412,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10,1071,35],"tags":[5518,6275,2134,704],"class_list":["post-80407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-whitesox","category-mlb","category-news","tag-korey-lee","tag-lenyn-sosa","tag-martin-maldonado","tag-nick-senzel"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4683"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}