The Chicago White Sox have designated Martin Maldonado for assignment. Why? Was it because his defense had regressed to the point where he was one of the worst defensive catchers in baseball? Was it because he was hitting a robust .119 with an OPS of .430? Naw. Let’s look at what Martin had done more recently.
Martin had been on fire
In his last five games Martin had gone 6-15 with three home runs and RBIs. On a team making a run at the worst record in modern day MLB history, that’s the type of thing that can eliminate a potential place in MLB history.
Maldonado had spent a good part of the season hitting under .100. Actually, for a while he was under the Forrest Gump line. I’ve talked about the Forrest Gump line before. We know the Mendoza line is a batting average of .200. The Forrest Gump line is a batting average of .075. Of course, 75 was Forrest’s IQ. And never had a seen position player getting as much time as Maldonado hit under.075 for as long as Maldonado.
Well, at least Martin was only being paid the league minimum, right? Not exactly. The Sox are on the hook for $4 million this season with a $250,000 buyout for next season. And now I want one of two things.
I want Maldonado’s agent representing me in all my financial matters, or I want to negotiate with the White Sox about something. I don’t care what it is, I just want a chance for them to write me a check.
The Sox have been busy
In addition to dropping Maldonado, they also designated Danny Mendick for assignment and optioned Lenyn to Charlotte. Mendick was hitting ,197 with three home runs at the time he was cut loose.
In a sort of in the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king narrative, Sosa had been hyped as an up and comer on recent Sox broadcasts. Sosa was hitting .237 with an OPS of .624 at the time of his promotion. Actually, with an OPS of .624, on the White Sox, Lenyn Sosa seems like Sammy Sosa.
But there has been some addition
The Sox did sign Washington Nationals castoff, Nick Senzel. Senzel has played third for the Nationals this season but has played in the outfield when he was with the Reds. He could actually man center field if the Sox do trade Luis Robert Jr. Senzel put together a batting average of .209 to go along with seven home runs and an OPS of .663. He should be safe with the White Sox. Unless he gets hot.
