The Kansas City Royals have agreed to a one-year, $2.5-million contract with free-agent catcher Martin Maldonado, sources told Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
Maldonado can also earn another $1.4 million in incentives based on his catching at least 100 games in 2019, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network. If he collects all of the incentive money, his final salary would be $3.9 million, matching what he earned last year.
Completion of the agreement is pending a physical.
Maldonado - the last veteran catcher remaining on the free-agent market - will replace injured All-Star Salvador Perez as the Royals' starting catcher in 2019. Perez, the team's longtime backstop and one of the backbones of their World Series championship club in 2015, will miss the entire season after undergoing Tommy John surgery this week.
Considering the Royals' lack of depth behind the plate, Maldonado was linked to Kansas City immediately after Perez was hurt. His signing likely means that Cam Gallagher will serve in a backup role, while rookie Meibrys Viloria - who jumped from Single-A to the majors for 10 games last year and had been in line for the backup job - could then return to the minors for more seasoning.
Maldonado, a Gold Glove winner in 2017, is regarded as one of the finest defensive catchers in the majors. Last year, he slashed just .225/.276/.351 with nine homers and 44 RBIs over 119 games with the Los Angeles Angels and Houston Astros. However, he displayed his usual stellar defense by throwing out a league-leading 48 percent of would-be base-stealers, while collecting three defensive runs saved.
Maldonado's long wait for a contract prompted him to change his representation, as he recently left agent Scott Boras in favor of Dan Lozano. Boras told Rosenthal that he negotiated the contract with Kansas City, and said that it was "finalized without us knowing Maldonado had switched agents."
