De Padres have appointed catcher Martín Maldonado and Infielder Trenton Brooks for assignment, by An announcement from the team. San Diego has also received one of the newly acquired infielder Will Wagner to Triple-a el Paso. Among the many transactions that the Padres took off before the deadline was a deal for catcher Freddy Fermin and one for first Honkman/DH Ryan O’Hearn and outfielder Ramón Lauano. That inflow of position players’ salon into the Roster meant that cutbacks were inevitable, and Maldonado and Brooks were (two of) the strange men.
The reputation of Maldonado as a strong game cameler held him in service long after most statistics suggested that he had to hang his equipment. From 2012-2020 he caught more than 700 games and produced 13.2 Fangraphs war, the 14th most among primary catchers. Although his bat was a liability, his glove was valuable enough to compensate. According to Fangraphs, only five players achieved more defensive value than Maldonado in that period: Yasmani Grandal, Buster Posey, Yadier Molina, Andrelton Simmons and Russell Martin. Yet the attack by Maldonado has only become worse, and his defense has also lost weight – at least according to statistics such as defensive runs stored (DRS), Fielding Run Value (FRV) and earned runs (DRP). In the past five seasons, no player who has taken so many or more record performances, has a lower Ops or WRC+, and without Gold Glove-Caliber Defense to make up for his weak bat, he belongs to the 10 worst players of the competition in Fwar since 2021. With the Padres who want to improve any way, they will not be confronted. Fermin is not a star, but he is an upgrade in almost every measurable way.
Maldonado will most likely erase exemptions, reject an outright assignment and return to the Open Markt as a free agent. On the one hand, it may seem unlikely that he will find another Major League job, especially with his 39th birthday that is approaching quickly. On the other hand, people could have said the same before he signed this season with the White Sox in 2024 and the Padres. Maybe it would be foolish to count Maldonado.
Brooks spent time in the minors with the Guardians and Athletics organizations of 2016-23 before he finally made his MLB debut with the Giants in May 2024. The LEFTY-BOFTER went 3-out-25 over 12 games, the first base and DH, before being shared in June. He spent the rest of the season with the Triple-A branch of San Francisco, where he hit well; He ended the Minor League season with a stroke average of .302 and a 132 WRC+ in 94 games. Brooks ink then a minor league pact with the Padres and continued to pitch Triple-A in the early 2025. He hit .311 with a 133 WRC+ in 60 games before he had selected his contract in mid -June. Unfortunately, nowhere in the neighborhood of the same kind of success at the MLB level, he had .146 hit with a 26 WRC+ in 25 games. If the DFA of Maldonado was not surprising, Brooks was perhaps inevitable.
Now 30 years old, and with a .136/.208/.212 Career Slash Line to show for his two short stints in the Majors, Brooks is hardly a prospect. Nevertheless, his impressive figures at Triple-A over the past two years (.306/.410/.508, 24 hours, 38 2B, 104 BB, 104 K) can convince a team that needs some left-handed depth to refrain from distance from a distance in the coming days.
#Busy #Padres #DFA #veterans #massive #trade #deadline