The Diamondbacks announced that they've agreed to terms with defensive specialist John McDonald on a two-year deal. Jack Magruder of FOXSportsArizona.com says the deal is worth $1.5MM per season (on Twitter). McDonald provides the Diamondbacks with insurance for Stephen Drew, who missed much of 2011 with a fractured ankle.
McDonald joined the D'Backs along with Aaron Hill in the August trade that sent Kelly Johnson to Toronto. The 37-year-old didn't do much at the plate this past season, hitting .229/.269/.308, but he's known as a defensively skilled player at second, short and third. SFX represents McDonald, as our Agency Database shows.
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo
guys, i promise…we’ll take good care of your boys here in az. they were like instant fan faves after the trade, so you can rest assured that they have a good home now!
You can keep aaron I want Johnny Mac Back :(
Oh well looks like I’ve got a team to cheer for in the NL. Hope to see you in the World series soon :P
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Who
You are the only one who dosnt know Johnny Mac.
John McEnroe i do know
NOOOO! JMac once a Blue Jay forever a Blue Jay! So sad he’s not coming back next year.
Thought he said he was headed back to Toronto?
john mcdonald lied!!!
Jmac’s needed here more. We have a certain infield liability known as a “drew” here in az…and we all know how well rostering one of these “drews” tends to go.
Truth be told though, that was a nasty, nasty injury – more legit than what one often attributes to a “drew” being plagued by.
we’ll take drew off your hands if you want?
I’ve got my money on Washington or Boston. Nats only because our old scout that signed him back in the day is now their GM.
we need a second baseman!
And Drew just came off of major ankle surgery. You want to put that ankle at the position that gets its legs taken out from under it on routine double plays?
If not a SS, he’s a 3B.
if he’s healed he’s healed you cant baby him
why not just make him dh then
That’s some sound logic right there. Forget injury history and the possibility of it recurring, let’s throw him at the most dangerous position on the diamond for the part of his body he just had twisted 180-degrees from its normal position!
Also, way to go for the extremes there on the DH’ing alternative. Because moving him to a less-dangerous position is “babying” him. Right.His good infield arm also plays better at third base, and would be largely wasted at second.
and you don’t need your ankles at third base? you don’t have to charge the plate on bunts and throw off balance puting all your pressure on one leg and possibly causing injury??
you’re taking one aspect of a 2B’s job and saying he shouldn’t there because of his surgery, when realistically every infield position is going to put extreme amounts of stress on your legs and ankle..
However if pitchers can overcome shoulder and elbow injuries to come back and pitch, I dont see why Drew cant have his ankle fixed and come back as strong as ever?
At any position in the infield, you need a degree of ankle strength for lateral mobility, charging in on soft grounders, and footwork. Only at one position do you regularly have baserunners sliding into your shins with little means to get out of the way. If you want to put him there, that’s your choice, but you’re only increasing his chance for injury.
When shortstops make turns towards first, they’re already moving towards 1B, so they can sidestep out of the way and still make the play, and even when they can’t, they’re often on back side of the base, so the baserunners often don’t reach them. When a second baseman makes a turn towards first, they’re moving away from the bag so they have to stop and plant to make the throw, often at the front part of the bag, which leaves them susceptible to takeouts.
Of course pitchers can overcome injuries to their arms, but there’s a reason that guys end up with the “injury-prone” label. Prior injuries increase the possibility of future injuries in pitcher’s arms, and in this case in Drew’s leg. With as much money as Drew makes and as valuable as he is, protecting that leg is the smart thing to do.
Yea, this is a big surprise…
AA and him both hinted pretty strongly that he was coming back.
NOOOOOOOO !!!!!!!!!!!! I wanted him back with Jays
ughh
I’m disapointed only because this means mike mccoy makes the team.
sad to see Johnny Mac go for real, he’ll always be a fan fave
McCoy IMO brings more to the team that Jmac
I am sorry to see him not comeback he will make a great coach someday
But McCoy brings more speed, a decent glove, plays OF, 3b, ss, 2b, and his bat is better
hit bat is better? maybe a better make…
uhhh no? lol
Mccoy hit .198/.291/.257 .. simply put, both suck offensively
however, Johnny Mac plays 2b, ss, and 3b and plays all considerably better than Mccoy (especially ss/2b)
the only benefit of Mccoy over Mac is late innings speed, but jays have rajai davis for that.
they’re difficult to compare because of their part time status, but i think mccoy has a chance to hit better than jmac. plus i dont think mccoy is any slouch defensively, and he adds the flexibility of playing the outfield acceptably as well.
the team is overloaded with outfielders with question mark bats.
and EE is learning to play LF as well :/ …be scared
yes indeed. not looking forward to his throws to the cut-off man, but at least the fans in the first row behind 1B will be safe, right?
I was expecting this to be about Ronald.
Damn :(
I wanted Johnnymac back in TO.
Oh well, good luck in Arizona!
You spelled Blue Jays wrong.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
aaand Mike McCoy breathes a sigh of relief
Fair play to J-Mac, I doubt he’d have got a 2 year deal with the Jays. Hopefully he’ll return to be an infield instructor once he retires.
I think the odds of that are very high.
37 year old signed to a 2 year deal. good for him
All these “NOOOOO” comments make me sick. John McDonald is a terrible player! He has absolutely no business being on the 25-man roster for an AL team, especially one whose SS is already above average defensively (loses defensive replacement value). If he wants to be a coach in Toronto when he’s done, fine. I just don’t ever want to see him on the playing field again.
huh?? “no business on a 25 man roster..especially one who already has a above average defensive shortstop”
huh this makes no sense, he’s not a late innings defensive replacement. He’s a utility player, he’s there for injuries and for days off, thats pretty much it. Escobar was never ever taken out of the lineup for mcdonald unless he was injured.
no one is saying nooo because they think the team will suffer, he was just a fan favourite at a position that really isn’t going to make a difference to the grand scope of things either way.
That’s my point. Escobar wasn’t taken out for those reasons because there was no need. You can find a MUCH more useful utility infielder than McDonald if you don’t need the defensive standard of a guy who is going to be coming late into games with the lead.
And yes, his spot on the roster IS going to make a difference. The Jays are going to have enough roster spot battles as it is that they don’t need to have one taken up for a ceremonious spot.
dude, mike mccoy is going to move in to the role and is going to contribute pretty much the same thing.
you cant use the spot for a good bat because you need the player to be able to play multiple positions. and there is no SS with a good bat lying around that isn’t already starting, heck half the teams in the league dont have SS who can hit as it is.
but Mike McCoy will provide roughly the same value as McDonald at fraction of the cost.
when we’re talking wages this low its pretty moot isn’t it..
I’m not upset over it, would have been nice to have johnny mac back for fans only pretty much, also I hate mike mccoy, not sure why
You hate McCoy? He’s basically a younger McDonald.
i hate his face.
lol
McCoy is the PMoD with a worse bat and glove. Fantastic.
It doesn’t have to be Mike McCoy. You can find plenty of better players than McDonald and McCoy to be there. And McCoy is better than McDonald anyway.
and you still missed the point. Sometimes as fans we also cheer for the human element. ..
we do? I’d rather we win.
no utility player is going to make a team win or not.
What’s better for the team’s success, having a utility player, or having another utility player that provides the same value for fraction of the cost? Yeah, it’s a million dollars. Not much in the grand scheme of things, but could be the difference between winning and losing.
you don’t actually believe 1 million bucks is going to make or break this team?
I’m not advocating that we should have signed Jmac, I think he could have easily got this deal from the Jays sounds like he thought he’d get more playing time in arizona so wanted to stay.
I don’t, I just think it’s weird how people are sad that the Jays got a million bucks without losing anything.
he was a fan favourite.. in a position that really the most you can supply is to be a good teamate, club house presence and to be well liked by the fanbase..
he was pretty awesome defensively though..
MacDonald was once traded for himself!
He was dealt from the Jays to the Tigers for a PTBNL or cash, and when the two clubs talked after the season, they decided on MacDonald as the PTBNL. Traded for himself.
tigers got ripped off!
really? that’s awesome on a certain level!
oh no! what will the Jays do now without the career .238/.275/.326 hitter?!
They will turn to their career .194/.280/.257 hitter!
sad to see J mac go but i’m sure he was offered more money than what the jays were offering. GL in zona, i’ll be cheering for your team in the NL.
So this opens the door for Omar Vizquel to get a 3 year deal right?
Does this mean no more Willie Bloomquist? I love Jonny Mac and his defense so should be nice to have for a couple more years. Nice job KT.
I’ll always remember Johnny Mac in a Jays uniform for 2 occasions: his home run on Father’s Day, first game back after his dad passed away, and when he tapped his bat on home plate, causing it to break in half with everyone on the field killing themselves laughing.
Good luck in Arizona!
Man I remember him tearing up after the game, it was so inspiring to see him hit a HR for his father.
If AZ was gonna spend some dough on a player it should have been Aaron Hill. Dude changed his approach after the trade and raked. Huge part of the D’Backs success from August on.
The silver lining is that hopefully we’ll never hear Dave Matthews at Rogers Centre again.