The San Diego Padres released catcher Martin Maldonado and outrighted utility player Tyler Wade to Triple-A El Paso on Wednesday.
San Diego designated both players for assignment last week after a trading deadline frenzy during which the club acquired six major leaguers while dealing mostly prospects.
One of the acquisitions was catcher Freddy Fermin from the Kansas City Royals. That acquisition led to the departure of the light-hitting Maldonado.
A strong defensive catcher who won a Gold Glove with the Los Angeles Angels in 2017, the 38-year-old Maldonado was batting just .204 with four homers and 12 RBIs in 64 games for San Diego this season.
Maldonado has a .203 career average with 119 homers and 384 RBIs in 1,230 career games over 15 seasons with seven teams. He played his first six seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers (2011-16) and had two stints totaling five-plus seasons with the Houston Astros (2018, 2019-23).
Wade, 30, was batting .206 with nine RBIs in 59 games for the Padres this season. He has a .216 career mark with seven homers and 60 RBIs in 506 games over nine seasons with the New York Yankees (2017-21), Los Angeles Angels (2022), then-Oakland Athletics (2023) and Padres.
–Field Level Media
