Martin Maldonado and the value of a defense-first catcher?

Catching is a difficult job. It’s a grind squatting down behind the plate, day after day. Rarely do you see a catch go out they and sit behind the plate for 140+ games per year. Those guys (like Molina, Perez, and Wieters) in recent years have been pretty rare. Even more rare - the catcher who can hit.

Among catchers with 300+ plate appearances in 2017, only 11 out of 26 have a wRC+ greater than 100 and only 8 of them have positive offensive ratings.