Martin Maldonado Trade Has Us Worried Willson Contreras Injury is Worse Than Cubs Are Admitting

The Cubs' catching depth this year has been the envy of the league. Victor Caratini has been a solid backup, while starter Willson Contreras has blossomed into an All-Star caliber player, especially on offense.

That's what makes Chicago's trade for Martin Maldonado slightly puzzling. With such a strong core of catchers, the acquisition of the Royals backstop suggests that the injury that landed Contreras on the injured list is worse than the team is letting on, as Chicago decided they couldn't simply live with Taylor Davis for the minimum 10 days.

Contreras was added to the injured list with a strained arch muscle in his right foot almost immediately after news of the trade broke. If the injury wasn't serious and they didn't expect him to miss a significant amount of time, shipping out Mike Montgomery for Maldonado wouldn't have even been considered.

Caratini owns a 119 OPS+ this year and Triple-A catcher Davis is a serviceable fill-in. The two of them would have been more than capable of holding down the fort if Contreras only needed a week or two to recover.

The move could mean that the Cubs think that either he's going to need a lot longer to recover than anticipated, or that this could be a recurring injury for the rest of the year.

This will definitely be something to keep tabs on. Teams don't make splash moves at deep positions unless injuries play a key factor. This could just be a case of the team being proactive in building rock-solid depth, but forgive us for feeling otherwise.

It wouldn't be surprising at all of Contreras' injury situation lingered and Maldonado found himself pressed into more important duty.