Former Angels catcher Martin Maldonado announced his retirement Saturday on his Instagram account.
“For 34 years, I’ve had the honor of wearing that gear — and for the last 15, doing it at the highest level. Today, it’s time to hang them up and officially call it a career,” Maldonado wrote in an Instagram post on Saturday.
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The Angels drafted Maldonado out of Puerto Rico in the 27th round in 2004. He was released in January 2007 and signed with the Milwaukee Brewers, for whom he would make his MLB debut in 2011.
The Angels re-acquired Maldonado from the Brewers after the 2016 season, along with right-handed pitcher Drew Gagnon, in a trade for catcher Jett Bandy.
Maldonado played 216 games for the Angels over the next two seasons, hitting 19 home runs and driving home 70 runs with a .222/.279/.354 slash line. In 2017, he won the American League Gold Glove award at catcher and the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award.
The Angels traded Maldonado before the 2018 deadline for Houston Astros pitcher Patrick Sandoval, who played six seasons in Anaheim.
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Maldonado’s anticipated retirement was reported in June by Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
Maldonado played 1,230 games over 15 major league seasons. Besides the Angels, he also spent time with the Brewers (2011-16), Houston Astros (2018-23), Kansas City Royals (2019), Chicago Cubs (2019), Chicago White Sox (2024), and San Diego Padres (2025).
Maldonado caught three no-hitters in his career, and was on the receiving end of two different immaculate innings — in the same game on June 15, 2022, when pitchers Luis Garcia and Phil Maton did so against the Texas Rangers.
No other game has featured two immaculate innings, in which the pitcher retires all three batters on three-pitch strikeouts.
Maldonado retires with a career .203 batting average, 119 home runs, and 384 RBIs in 4,208 plate appearances. He collected the only World Series ring of his career with the Astros in 2022. He also won pennants with the Astros in 2019 and 2021.
Anaheim was just one stop of many in Maldonado’s career, but his time in Anaheim inarguably brought him more individual recognition than any other destination in a long career.
“As I take off the gear for the last time, I do it with a full heart — grateful, proud, and forever in love with the game that gave me everything,” Maldonado wrote. “Thank you, baseball. And thank you all for being part of this incredible journey.”
For more Angels news, head over to Angels on SI.