The Brewers are “considering” free agent third baseman Josh Donaldson after his recent release from the Yankees, per Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic. Donaldson was on the 60-day injured list at the time of his release but is reportedly healthy and was expecting to return to the roster in September. If the Brewers do sign Donaldson, they’ll only owe him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the big league roster or injured list.
Donaldson, 37, was traded from Minnesota to New York alongside Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ben Rortvedt prior to the 2022 season, with Gary Sanchez and Gio Urshela heading back in the other direction. His tenure with the Yankees hasn’t gone as they hoped, to say the least. Injuries limited the former AL MVP to 132 games last year and just 34 games this season, and even when healthy, Donaldson’s once-potent bat has faded. In 666 plate appearances as a Yankee, Donaldson slashed .207/.293/.385 — including a .142/.225/.434 output in 120 plate appearances this season.
Rough as Donaldson’s overall numbers this year may be, his glovework at third base has continued to grade well into his late 30s, and he’s popped 10 home runs in just 120 plate appearances. With rosters set to expand from 26 to 28 players tomorrow and Donaldson available for the minimal cost possible, the Brewers could at least take a short look to see how Donaldson fares in the wake of his most recent calf strain — the injury that’s sidelined him since July 20 (and an issue that has plagued him on multiple occasions in recent years).
Third base has been a weak spot for the Brew Crew of late, with previously hot-hitting rookie Andruw Monasterio’s bat cooling and veteran Brian Anderson also wilting after a strong start to the season. Brewers third basemen have posted an awful .188/.250/.260 slash during the month of August, giving Donaldson — or any other potential addition/call-up — a rather low bar to clear in the season’s final month.
I would take him for the Orioles but….
1.) I would be the only one interested
2.) There is no room on tbe Orioles
So the chance of the Orioles signing him are Slim and None and Slim left town
Totally get why you’d have to post this then. Really strong take and worth the effort.
This is sooooo awesome, I will get the Windows Snip Tool, take a Screenshot of this and frame it
This is so delightful to know I am loved and appreciated here
Rough crowd. Probably why I’m here
But why? Gunnar Henderson is doing good at third base. Probably don’t want to move Ryan Mountcastile off of first base. Ryan O’Hearn has been a massive surprise at 1B and DH. I doubt he’s an upgrade over Ramon Urias, who’s a good defender at all four infield positions, and not a horribe hitter either. I don’t see how he makes the roster better, unless there was an injury of any of the mentioned players.
Lefty, trust me you don’t want him. Other than still playing good defense he’s done.
It’s ok Joe, they can have em’!
Well, I would not mind him, but no chance of him being signed by Elias
I think he would be useful and quite frankly the Brewers should have kept Urias, instead of trading him to the Sox
Hey Lefty, you say that now, but seriously have you seen his play the last few years? If you have you’d be disappointed. I wouldn’t expect much from Donaldson at this point. I see he has signed a minor league contract with the Brewers, so let’s see what happens man.
He’s cheap, and looks like he’s healthy. But I don’t know he might be cooked, and he’s certainly a mercurial person, it’ll be interesting if anyone wants to give him a shot.
About $4 million due. Cheap with inflation these days.
He was released. The Brewers (or any team) would owe him one month’s worth of the MLB minimum. The Yankees owe the rest.
Gotta tell you, not really sure what the Brewers think they’re getting with an over the hill Donaldson? Please let me know fans.
They’d owe him a prorated portion of MLB’s minimum. Probably about $120K.
Harry, to provide even more clarification, if the Orioles had picked him up on “waivers,” he would have been due the rest of his contract. But he passed through waivers and now he’s “released,” a freebie practically at the prorated minimum.
At least that’s how I understand the terminology.
@acoss13- make no mistake about it, this guy is definitely cooked and the Brewers are making a big mistake (even on a minor league contract) so it’s definitely not worth it.
How is it a mistake if he can’t play or can’t stay healthy at Nashville? He get’s released and the Yankees go back to paying him.
If it was 2019, I’d be freaking out right now
There was a thread on reddit the other day showing that Donaldson had the lowest BABIP by far of anyone with at least 100 ABs in a season. The rest of the list was pitchers and a couple of light hitting position players. Wonder how much of his struggles are bad luck.
I think it just shows his bat is as potent as pitchers and light hitting utility players.
Pitchers don’t hit 10 dingers in 120 plate appearances.
Wes Ferrell did in 1931
10 HR’s with 15 RBI….hitting solo shots on a last place team when the game is already over and you’re getting cookie fastballs down the middle isn’t all that impressive.
E.T. Ohtani does
Wes Ferrell the music producer? Oh. That was Wes Farrell.
Ohtani has no homers as a pitcher. (I’m just guessing on that.)
Donaldson can’t hit the fastball anymore a. Riding to Tom Verducci.
si.com/.amp/mlb/2023/08/29/yankees-release-josh-do…
Thanks for the link. An interesting breakdown of Donaldson’s failures this year.
Locker room cancer. He was not well liked in Minnesota.
I’m sure your years of leadership in a major league locker room would be more attractive to a club.
It’s a clubhouse in baseball, not locker room. But. Point taken.
Being unpopular isn’t the same thing as being a cancer. People don’t like him. Oh well. If he’s not actively creating conflict then the team shouldn’t care. Not everyone has to be Captain America or whatever
It affects chemistry. When there’s one in the group who you’re having to apologize for, make excuses for and you yourself don’t care for, it takes a toll. AJ Pierzynski is a good example.
It’s one month. If he comes in and hits no one will care. If he doesn’t hit they will just cut him.
That is correcto man
No one can be Captain America. He is a comic book character.
Chris Evans proved you wrong, Ducey.
Wettle, the verbage seems strong there. I’ve seen reports he may not have been well liked in Minnesota, but I’ve never read anything about him causing a stink. He may just not have been a fit in that particular clubhouse, with that group of guys. If my favorite team needed a 3B, I’d be for seeing them take a chance on Donaldson.
He was not “well liked” by Jackie either.
I don’t think anyone is well-liked by “Jackie” except for the person that carries the smelling salts on their person. Lol
Hey does that person holding those smelling salts, do the count also? 1-2-3-4-5-6..:
If you have a roster spot, you might get very lucky for no money. He’s been basically bad with NY–it’s hard to know if it is eroding skills and injuries, or maybe he just couldn’t get it together in NY.
He’s cooked and he’s got a horrendous attitude. Hopefully the Brewers “consider” somebody else. What’s the difference between Donaldson and Voigt at this point anyway? Why would they have passed on one to consider the other?
Voight at thirdbase would be entertaining….but a disaster. Donaldson at third would be above average, and given the production the Brewers are getting at third base I doubt he would be a downgrade.
I didn’t necessarily mean put voigt at third but yeah I could see why they don’t need a DH/1B type but man Donaldson is just such a disaster I can’t imagine a good team going out and signing him
There’s no risk. Bring him in for a week’s “rehab assignment” in AAA and if they determine he can’t help then release him. The Brewers (as was noted) are getting no offensive production out of third base; if he can play above average defense and is healthy, then there’s no risk at all. Unless he is totally intolerable as a teammate…. my guess is that this is somewhat overblown. I mean, I wouldn’t seek him out as a buddy, but as my thirdbaseman trying to catch lightning in a bottle for a month or two…why the heck not?
I’m only replying b/c of your profile name…hahahaha Uggla did went down uggly. Suddenly no power or hiting
at all
That’s World Series Champion Dan Uggla to you
They lack solid .142avg staunch racist coming off bench … WS here we come !
I love this happen to the Yankees. ANYONE who follows baseball seen this coming. Donaldson sucks money from organizations and doesn’t play. They went for a name vs production in which that had in Urshela. Not sure why GM’s think players that have unjustly issue will all a sudden in mid-30’s stop getting hurt and produce.
Seems like a desperate move, after the Reds prevented Renfro from returning or acquiring Bader to play CF. Regardless, the team needs power out of that corner position and the Bringer of Rain, just might be the short-term answer. A very low risk move for a club needing to improve against left handed pitching.
So is it a desperate move or a low risk one? Or did you just change your opinion 1/2 way through?
Means I would have preferred Renfro back as a right handed power bat. Brewers just signed Josh, so we will see if it works out or not.
One word describes picking him up for any team WORTHLESS
In other news, the Brewers are “considering” Bobby Abreu and Sean Rodriguez.
Ewww… No thanks
Sometimes you get what you want and you deserve it.
there’s a bat for your lineup
DJ Stewart .279/.364/.651
Josh Donaldson .142/.225/.434