The Brewers announced that they have selected the contract of third baseman Josh Donaldson. In corresponding moves, they have optioned infielder Owen Miller and transferred righty J.C. Mejía to the 60-day injured list.
Donaldson, 37, began the year with the Yankees but was released in August after a season of injuries and disappointing results. He went on the injured list this year due to a right hamstring strain and then a right calf strain, only playing 34 games for the Yanks. In that time, the results were all over the place. He got 15 hits in his 120 plate appearances but 10 of those were home runs. That led to a lopsided .142/.225/.434 batting line and wRC+ of 74.
The Yankees fell out of contention and wanted to give playing time to younger players, so they released Donaldson in August. The Brewers grabbed him on a minor league deal and sent him to get some work at Triple-A, essentially a rehab assignment for his calf strain. He played five games for Nashville and produced similarly odd results in that small sample, hitting two home runs but batting just .091.
The Brewers are hoping to find lightning in a bottle with Donaldson, who has a strong track record from previous seasons and could perhaps get some better fortune going forward. He had a tiny .076 batting average on balls in play with the Yankees earlier this year and a mark of .091 in his five games with the Sounds. Despite the poor results, his Statcast page still has plenty to like, including a 92.8 mph average exit velocity and 51.3% hard hit rate.
Donaldson also struggled last year but was above-average at the plate as recently as 2021, when he hit 26 home runs for the Twins and drew walks in 13.6% of his plate appearances. His .247/.352/.475 line that year amounted to a wRC+ of 126. His defense at third base has also continued to be graded well, even as his offensive results have waned since he joined the Yankees going into 2022. He produced seven Defensive Runs Saved and seven Outs Above Average last year and was average or above in his small sample this year.
Over the past couple of months, Andruw Monasterio has taken the lion’s share of playing time at third for the Brewers. He had some strong results earlier this year but has cooled off significantly, hitting .231/.297/.286 over the past month. Perhaps Donaldson will take some of his playing time as the club hopes that the veteran can get some better batted ball luck and get closer to his previous excellent form.
There will be no financial risk for them to give him this shot, as the Yankees are still on the hook for what remains of his contract. That means Milwaukee can just pay him the prorated version of the $720K league minimum for any time he spends on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what the Yankees are paying. By joining the organization prior to September 1, Donaldson will be able to play for the Brewers in the postseason.
As for Mejía, he’s been on the injured list since August 14 due to right shoulder inflammation. It’s unclear how long he’s expected to be sidelined by that injury but he’ll now be officially ineligible to return until 60 days from that initial placement on the injured list, which would be mid-October. His regular season is officially over and he likely won’t return to the club unless he gets healthy as they make a deep postseason run. He posted a 5.56 earned run average in nine appearances this year.
3 for 17 with 2 Home Runs at AAA since joining the Brewers. Donaldson is nothing if not consistent
The Yankees made it sound like he was out for the year, a pretty amazing recovery by the friend of “Jackie”.
He no longer can hit his weight, but he can’t hit his wife’s weight either. Pitiful stats.
So the last article about him having to earn a call up was hokie.
As a Cub fan I applaud the move. Thanks
As a cub fan you know all about poor baseball players
mad….with the burn!
Hey Brewers fan look behind you. And next year when the few good players you have leave for greener pastures and you can’t keep up remember this moment you shot your wad.
They can have him. As far as the Yankees are concerned, addition by subtraction.
I believe the Yanks are paying him roughly 50M over the next two years to play elsewhere. That’s subtraction alright.
He’s a FA next season.
His contract ends after this season.
You are correct. “There’s a $16MM mutual option for 2024 but the Yanks were clearly planning to take the $6MM buyout instead.”
Man he sucks and is proof WAR is a total joke. He’s never been that good yet people were putting him on their Hall of Fame radars because his WAR looked good for a few years.
I’m not sure I follow you. WAR is a bad stat because when Donaldson had a high WAR, people thought he was good, but now he’s not? He also had good conventional stats in those years. He also has bad conventional stats now.
The guys who hate war are always the most ignorant when it comes to current baseball. They’ve also have the most nonsensical arguments of why it’s not good.
Bro won the MVP and you say he’s never been good. Yep, makes sense.
Brewers are going to make it rain beer.
Is he going to the BP to replace Chafin?
They really wanna lose wow
They must have forgotten that Keston Huira is batting .311 with a few dozen home runs in AAA. A thing like that can slip an owners mind.
Keston’s hurt again
did he suddenly develop enough arm strength to play 3b base?
7th team for Donaldson. Gotta remember this for Immaculate Grid.
Many teams wanted him.
Good gamble for the stretch run, without the pressure of the salary or the role, I think he can be solid for them.
It’s time to sell him on the idea of becoming a professional pinch hitter. It extended many careers in the past – Manny Mota, Del Unser, Rusty Staub, etc. I know I’m reaching into the distant past, but there’s value in that if a player can swallow his pride.
Wasn’t Milwaukee just talking about how Donaldson would need to play his way to a chance? LOL.
Their third base situation has been a disaster, not a high bar to meet.
Good to see Josh Donaldson getting an opportunity with another major league team…..I’m sure he’s ecstatic over the thought of becoming the most hated person in another team’s locker room.
Milwaukee hosted the DNC in 2020 and now they bring in Josh Donaldson. This is not a coincidence.
Milwaukee just hosted the RNC a month ago, I’m not sure what politics has to with Josh Donaldson being with the Brewers, but whatever.
Personally I’m just dreading seeing 2 senile old men who have wandering hands around women yell at each other again in 2024
I thought this thread was about the Brewers and the Yankees. The comment doesn’t work well with Mark Attanasio and Hal Steinbrenner, but would have worked great a few decades ago with Bud Selig and George Steinbrenner.
SharksFan91
I’m not registered to either major party so I don’t care for your 2 party duopoly “both sides of the same coin” nonsense. If you want to support the kid-sniffing dementia ridden clown who helps enable his criminal rock smoking son or the belligerent billionaire egomaniac who lies 24 7, that’s on you fam.
I don’t see the connection to politics either! By the way, isn’t the Republican convention being held next year in Milwaukee? Unfortunately for those of us looking forward to the economic boosts that can come with conversations, the 2020 DNC was a bust because of the pandemic. If adding Donaldson results in a boost to brewer fortunes he’ll be welcome by both Dems and Republicans!
I hope the bringer of rain tears it up with the Brewers. I enjoyed his nice season with the Braves. I was hoping he got resigned but looks like AA made the right decision. I know a lot of people don’t much care for JD but they should google his childhood. His father did about 15 years in prison and he was raised by his mother.
His mom was a victim of domestic violence sadly. Say what you want about Donaldson but I commend him for speaking out against that repulsive behavior.
Lots of people have rough childhoods yet grow up to be decent, not-obnoxious adults.
I just watched him play in Nashville Saturday. He still hits the ball hard and good eye at the plate. He drew a couple walks and homered. Made a couple nice defensive plays to. Wouldn’t shock me if he has a strong final couple weeks.
I’m expecting a .275/.350/525 line with several dingers and some artistry at 3B. Man escapes the Yankees after being abysmal, he’s going to have something in the tank. He certainly didn’t over-exert himself in NY.
The cancer he will bring to the clubhouse will outweigh anything positive.
Hopefully not enough time for the cancer to spread.
Aaron Hicks 2.0
You mean the Yankees get him from the Twins, then dump him because he’s performing terrible just to see the player do awesome elsewhere?
Aaron Hicks with Baltimore .296/.385/.475 OPS .860 wRC+ 139 in 187 plate appearances.
I don’t care if he hits .400 and a HR every night!
What a disgrace and insult to the Brewer’s players who have been on the roster. The team has been playing well and they add this pos to the clubhouse. I don’t see anything that merits him being on the roster, let alone in the starting lineup! Oh yeah, forgot he’s a “Counsell type” guy. Typical Counsell stubbornness move.
If he hits .400 and blasts 18-20HRs he will be cheered by teammates.
First he triumphs over his rough childhood, then he’s a “POS” and a cancer in the clubhouse. Which is it, O Knowledgable Ones? 1-4 with a RBI in his Brewer debut tonight, errorless 3B. I see the move as a roll of the dice, with Monasterio, still hitting .271, moving to play 2B, where he will hit better than Turang. If JD finds a little of his production, that may solidify the overall situation. The Brewers have good young talent, and Donaldson is just a veteran move with possible upside. As for Keston Hiura, he has had a very productive year in Nashville, but for some reason the Brewers have allowed him to languish there. Perhaps it is his egregious K rate (28.6).
Joey Gallo would like you define “egregious”.
Since when have the Brewers worried about a 28ish% k rate? 35-40% that Keston was at with the big club last year, yes. 28%..without looking I’d guess they have at least 3 guys in that range right now who play regularly.
That said, I’m still a bit perplexed myself they absolutely refused to give him 1 shot with the big club this season. The only thing I can come up with is it’s another lindblom type situation. Failed repeatedly and so they are simply punishing him at this point (if not for the on field failure, then for accepting the assignment when they DFA’d him after ST).