Braves adding long-time catcher as special assistant in curious move

Eric Cole

Houston Astros v Atlanta Braves / Todd Kirkland/GettyImages

For the most part, the Atlanta Braves have gotten everything they need to get done this offseason. While it would be a nice luxury to add another quality starting pitcher, the Braves have enough arms to start the season and the areas of the roster they absolutely had to address are now handled after the Ha-Seong Kim signing. However, the Braves are clearly not being complacent even now.

With the big league roster mostly set other than the fringes, Atlanta's attention is apparently turning back to the coaching and front office staff side. The field coaching staff seems pretty locked in, but the Braves are still looking for even more help with the addition of Martin Maldonado as a special assistant.

Martín Maldonado is joining the Atlanta Braves as a special assistant for major-league operations, source tells @TheAthletic. Maldonado, 39, has long been viewed as a future manager or coach. He announced his retirement in October, but will play for Puerto Rico in the WBC.
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) December 17, 2025

Braves add Martin Maldonado as an as-yet undefined special assitant for major league operations

Maldonado has long been seen as a future coach or manager and thankfully, Atlanta isn't bringing him in as a player as he tends to get more playing time than he should when he is on the roster. The recently retired Maldonado is extremely good when it comes to managing pitching staffs and the strategic side of catching which can only be a good thing for the development of Drake Baldwin.

What we don't know right now is exactly what role Maldonado will play. It is a given that the Braves are going to pick his brain when it comes to catching and game planning, but that he has long been considered a future clubhouse leader and coach makes one wonder if he could slowly be integrated more and more into the day-to-day operations as the 2026 season goes on.

At the end of the day, Maldonado is just another resource for the Braves to have not unlike having Chipper Jones around to help hitters out. As long as Maldonado doesn't try to put his pads back on and get behind the plate, this is definitely a positive move for Atlanta to make.

Eric Cole

I started my career writing about baseball covering the Atlanta Braves for SB Nation's Talking Chop back in 2015 which has since been renamed Battery Power. After years of writing for those fine folks, I made the decision to take over as Site Expert at House That Hank Built before becoming a full-time MLB Staff Writer for FanSided in 2023. Along the way, I have been a guest on multiple ESPN radio affiliates as well as 680 The Fan and 92.9 The Game to discuss Braves baseball and especially Braves prospects and was a long-time host on the Battery Power podcast. These days, I continue to write about the Braves as well as covering the Astros, Padres, and Angels with particular expertise with minor league coverage, the MLB Draft, and bashing Anthony Rendon when possible. When I am not writing about or talking about baseball (which is seldom), I am an avid baseball card collector (Maddux and Soroka being my primary personal collections) and I also collect shark teeth. All other sports are mostly dead to me as my Bills have broken my heart too many times.