This story was excerpted from Brian McTaggart’s Astros Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
HOUSTON – Martín Maldonado announced his retirement as a player in a poignant video he posted Saturday, but his life in baseball isn’t done. Far from it. Maldonado would like to play for Puerto Rico in next year’s World Baseball Classic and has his eyes set on managing in the Major Leagues in the future.
Maldonado, who played for seven teams during his 15-year career, had his best seasons in Houston, where he was the starting catcher for much of six seasons (2018-23) and helped the Astros reach three World Series, culminating with the 2022 World Series title.
The man they called “Machete” because of a strong arm that led to him cutting down baserunners played six seasons with the Brewers to start his career and also spent time with the Angels, Royals, Cubs, White Sox and Padres, with whom he played in 64 games this season.
The decision to retire after 1,230 career regular-season games was an easy one, the 39-year-old Maldonado said Tuesday from the Dominican Republic. He and his wife have three children and live full-time in Puerto Rico.
“It wasn’t hard,” he said. “I feel like I accomplished a lot throughout my career. I played this game for a long time. The last couple of years wasn’t easy signing Minor League deals and all that stuff, but overall I just felt like I needed to spend more time with the family and enjoy all the stuff I’ve accomplished throughout my career. I feel like I accomplished way more than I even expected.”
The Astros traded for Maldonado in July in consecutive seasons in 2018 and ’19 before signing him to a two-year deal prior to the ’20 season. He signed a one-year extension to return in ’22 and helped Houston win the World Series. He made 110 starts at catcher that year in the regular season and started 11 of Houston’s 13 playoff games, battling through a broken right hand and a sports hernia injury that required surgery after the team won the World Series.
While in Houston, he caught three no-hitters, including two combined no-hitters, and became the only catcher in MLB history to catch two immaculate innings in the same game. Maldonado caught 20 of Justin Verlander’s 28 starts during his Cy Young season in 2022.
“My greatest accomplishment was obviously winning the World Series,” Maldonado said. “I feel like I never gave up. I started as a backup for all those years and then I played every day, and then I got to win the Gold Glove [with the Angels in 2017]. I surprised myself going from one thing to another for this many years.”
While the Astros of the last decade were defined by star players like Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Carlos Correa, George Springer, Verlander, Kyle Tucker, Michael Brantley and Yordan Alvarez, Maldonado’s preparation and leadership in many ways made him the glue to those teams.
“It’s a special group – the fans, the city,” he said. “We knew that we had a team to make it to the playoffs and win the World Series. … The players coming up always felt like they fit, they always signed good players, they always [taught] every player to win every year. As a player, you play to win. You play the game for three reasons: service time, money and winning. That’s why you play the game.”
Maldonado has long had a desire to manage in the Major Leagues and join the list of former big league catchers who ascended to that role. He played for one of them in A.J. Hinch in Houston in 2019. The Angels hired former catcher Kurt Suzuki as their next manager. Former catcher Stephen Vogt won the AL Manager of the Year in his first season with Cleveland last year and could repeat as the winner this year.
“I want to stay in the game,” he said. “I just got to see whatever offer, whatever job is coming next and deliberate that with my family and see what is best for me and the family. My goal is to manage in the future. You’ve got to take it step by step.”