Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson hasn’t yet decided if he’ll continue his playing career beyond the current campaign. “I don’t know,” Donaldson tells Brendan Kuty The Athletic. “It kind of just depends on how I feel going through this year and this season and all of that and talking to my family.”
Donaldson, 37, is in the final guaranteed season of the four-year deal he signed with the Twins going into 2020. That deal originally contained a club option for 2024, but it would become a mutual option if Donaldson were traded at any point. He was flipped to the Yankees going into 2022 so it in indeed now a $16MM mutual option, with a $6MM buyout if the club declines.
Once one of the best players in baseball, Donaldson was named the Most Valuable Player in the American League in 2015. Playing for the Blue Jays that year, he hit 41 home runs and produced an overall batting line of .297/.371/.568 for a wRC+ of 154. When combined with his strong defense at the hot corner, he was worth 8.7 wins above replacement on the year, according to the calculations of FanGraphs. That was once of five straight seasons that he tallied at least 5.0 fWAR, between the Athletics and the Jays from 2013 to 2017.
His performance has naturally become less consistently elite as he’s moved into his mid- and late-30s. In 2018, he spent much of the season on the injured list and only got into 52 games. Those injury struggles were ill-timed, as he was just about to hit the open market for the first time. He had to settle for a one-year deal with Atlanta, but had an excellent bounceback campaign. He launched 37 home runs and hit .259.379/.521 for a 131 wRC+ and 5.2 fWAR.
He was able to parlay that into the aforementioned four-year deal with the Twins, securing himself a $92MM guarantee. He missed about half of the shortened 2020 season due to a calf strain, but still generally played well that year and in the season after. Between those two campaigns, he hit 32 home runs in 163 games, producing a line of .243/.355/.474 and a 127 wRC+.
But his production has tailed off since the 2022 trade that saw him, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ben Rortvedt flipped to the Yanks for Gary Sánchez and Gio Urshela. He struck out in 27.1% of his plate appearances last year, his worst such rate since his brief debut back in 2010. His power was also down, as he hit just 15 home runs last year. His .222/.308/.374 line translated to a 97 wRC+. This year, a hamstring strain has limited him to just 17 games. He has six home runs in that brief time but is hitting just .151/.233/.491 for a wRC+ of 91. He can surely expect his .065 batting average on balls in play to improve, but his strikeout rate is up again to 28.3% so far this year.
Donaldson still seems plenty capable of holding his own defensively. He produced seven Defensive Runs Saved and six Outs Above Average last year. His numbers this year are hovering around league average in the very small sample of 107 1/3 innings.
There’s reason to believe he could still have something left in the tank and provide some value for a club. Even with some offensive struggles last year, he still was worth 1.6 fWAR thanks to his glovework. His bat hasn’t fully bounced back this year but he could find himself in a better position soon with a bit more batted ball luck, something he’s aware of. “I’ve hit a lot of balls hard,” he said. “Unfortunately, some of them haven’t fallen at the moment.”
The Yankees will be facing a net $10MM decision at season’s end, opting between the $16MM mutual option and $6MM buyout. Even if Donaldson finishes in a better spot than he’s currently in, it seems likely they will turn that down, given his inconsistency and the fact that he’ll turn 38 in December. The interest he receives from other clubs at that point will naturally depend on how his health and performance hold up over the next few months.
It seems like he will take some time to see how things play out over the next few months before making any kind of decision. “It would be, ‘What would be best?’” he said. “If I feel like I want to play still, and I feel like with my family situation that’s what I want to do. … But I haven’t put more thought into it.”
I’m pretty sure the league is going to make that decision for you
The sooner the better
Well stated. I was going to say something similar
He should retire. Then he can spend his time yelling racial slurs at little league games.
When has he ever uttered any racial slurs ?
He should’ve sued Tony LaRussa, the media and anyone else for libel & defamation. JD has never, ever uttered a racial slur publicly. TA is just a thin-skinned “I can dish it out, but I can’t take it” baby who wants to be a victim so bad, he blew it up to something it wasn’t. Saying he was the “Jackie of his generation” was a stupid statement. Donaldson ribbing him about it was pointless. But it wasn’t racial. If anything TA and the Woke Sox were racists in this situation.
Don’t recall any as an A… but he was weirdly aggressive at times. I remember one game where a field mic picked him up yelling at an opposing player and calling him a b****, which seemed a bit iffy for someone in their late 20’s at a place of work with kids around.
He never did. He referred to Tim Anderson as “Jackie”, a player Anderson compared himself to. The wokes got angry and twisted everything around. Donaldson saying “Jackie”? Racist. Adam Jones calling baseball “A white man’s game”? Meh.
Racial slurs? Please know what you are talking about before posting nonsense.
No one wants to hear this, but there are racists all around and it goes both ways and with other minorities as well. Listen to their words as well as their actions.
Asian people were freaking attacked on the damn street very recently and hardly anyone, especially of a particular political persuasion, said a damn word. Then all we hear is the woke shtick in a failed attempt to justify particular people’s actions. There is even a downplaying of mass shooting to keep the campaign coffers full.
Then you hear people talk about defunding police, changing the justice system and such on the other end. How about not committing crimes and putting yourself in bad situations? Educating yourself? Don’t get me started on amnesty for illegal actions. There are laws for a reason.
Common sense no longer prevails, just parroting of whatever they hear in their favored media. That goes for all sides.
Social media was the worst thing that ever happened to American society. We have seen the result already on January 6 and it is getting worse. That is the hard truth that no one wants to hear or acknowledge.
Donaldson is just opinionated. When with the A’s, Josh publicly criticized Oakland’s management for trading Céspedes in the middle of a pennant race. A different A’s team back then, Oakland’ jack of all trades Billy Beane irked about these comments, traded JD to the Jays for barely nothing. All the controversy aside, I personally think Josh Donaldson is a heck of a player…
“The wokes.” Shut up, moron.
Asian people were freaking attacked on the damn street very recently and hardly anyone, especially of a particular political persuasion, said a damn word.
=============================
That’s why America is staggering. If a white guy attacks an African-American, it is front page headlines across the country. If an African-American attacks an Asian, it scarcely gets a local headline. We need a ton more consistency.
avenger65
He should retire. Then he can spend his time yelling racial slurs at little league games.
==============================
He made fun of Anderson for comparing himself to Jackie Robinson. In what world is that racist? If anything, I read it as sticking up for Robinson’s legacy.
The “wokes”? I guess milt wears the foil hat.
Triggered are we??? lol
Joe – The liberal media continues to push the narrative that only white guys are racist, just like only white women are Karens.
There’s been a ton of anti-Asian violence the past few years, it’s not white guys that are committing the assaults and murders.
The pendulum has swung completely the other way, instead of staying in the middle where it should be.
love how you conditioned that with “publicly”. So you’re saying he does it privately?
it comes down to sales, unfortunately. Asians getting attacked is not the clickbait black on white or white on black is. Its a numbers game.
I mean the whole enslaving of people you brought overseas vs some questionable remarks from Adam Jones…yeah, they’re totally equal.
And the second a black person doesn’t immediately bend the knee to the flag, the right freaks out and twists everything around.
I don’t know how you find the courage to get out of bed. Signed, fellow white person who doesn’t care about your feelings.
I’m still confused by how “woke” is an insult. Woke means Awake. How is it an insult to be awake? Shouldnt “unwoke” or “unawake” be the insult?
Either you are saying all media is liberal, or you are conceding that there is a conservative media that pushes their narrative as well.. I remember when narratives were reserved for the OP-ED page of the paper, and the Local Newscast would announce they were giving their opinion, at the end of the news show. News reporting was just that, straight reporting with no opinion. My journalism class in college even taught it that way. I guess I’m just getting old, and there are no rules anymore, other than what sells is the rule.
just like only white women are Karens.
================================
I hate the “Karen” thing more than the reverse-racism. Men get patted on the back for sticking up for their rights, or landing a good deal. Women get called “Karen”. My wife is much better than me at getting things remedied, and I appreciate it.
There was a ding in our refrigerator when it was delivered. I probably would’ve let it go by. My wife spoke to the delivery person who spoke to the manufacturer, who refunded us a decent chunk of change. On one hand, it wasn’t a big deal. OTOH, the product should’ve been free of all defects.
Its a numbers game.
======================
It is more dangerous than a numbers game. 4-5 Memphis cops savagely beat a black man to death. This was far worse, imo, than the George Floyd case. Not even remotely close. But the case in Memphis gets virtually no publicity.
What this has led to, imho, is that Black America doesn’t care if African-Americans get murdered, so long as the murderer isn’t white. Same on the white side. How many white people felt “thank god the cops weren’t white”?
Well, as long as you are being pedantic, being asleep is usually a good thing, since America doesn’t get enough sleep.
There is very little journalism any more. When I was younger, I would read both the NYT and the WSJ, as well as the NY Post and the Daily News. The idea that the NYT will print anything accurate is completely laughable.
And I remember picking up the Bloomberg report when it was a free glossy that I could pick up at one of those boxes. It was great. It still has its moments (10x better than the NYT) but even its business reports are occasionally slanted.
I give you the big thumbs up on that!
stymee – Agreed, it’s not an insult. The word was created by African Americans, certainly not as an insult.
stymee – There’s a chart somewhere that lists all the major media conglomerates, the vast majority is liberal-owned. Yes conservative media also pushes their narrative, but they are greatly outnumbered.
News reporting as we knew it is dead. Mostly biased reporting and being first justifies false reporting, verifying stories is no longer required.
You think it’s bad now, wait until AI makes it so that even audio and video recordings don’t prove anything.
And appropriated by mostly white people that tend to argue against the existence of racism, lol
Amy other player with his production would still be worthy of a bench roll, but not this guy. You can’t have his stat line and ALSO have a bad reputation in the clubhouse.
Im always very sceptical of posters when they say this or that player is a cancer to your team and when it was being said about JDon when he signed with the Braves and I didn’t believe it then. Allow me to say how grateful Donaldson wasn’t resigned after this one year contract with the Braves.
But he doesn’t have a bad reputation in the clubhouse.
Yea I have no memory of any problems with Donaldson in the Braves clubhouse outside of him take a month or two to get comfortable. He seemed like he was having fun with the guys throughout the season with the umbrella stuff. Braves just didn’t sign him outside that one year because of Riley. He was just signed on gamble to give Riley another year in the minors.
And that turned out to be a perfect play by the Braves. They got a great year from Donaldson, then they avoided his downside while opening the door for Riley.
Historically he’s rubbed some the wrong way – more recently with the Yankees and White Sox.
Why wait until after the season? No time like the present to announce you’re “stepping aside to spend more time with family”. If not, there are about 10M Yankee fans willing to help you make your decision.
@drasco seems like your an angry Yankees fan. Where did Cashman hurt you at the most? Point at the doll and tell us. We are here for the emotional support for all fans, regardless of market!
Cash man touched me in the same place your wife does.
Which is never. Good joke though. I just got off yours though. How’s my kids?
I can’t just see it now, Josh Donaldson signs a minor league contract for the Nationals or the Orioles in 2024.
I definitley don’t see the Orioles as a fit, even on a minor league deal, unless they suffer multiple catastrophic injuries from here through the 2023-2024 off-season. Nationals on the other hand, maybe. Low key, could see the Dodgers being that team to be a bench/platoon 3B/1B and pulling a Jason Heyward.
I think you missed the joke.
Oof, oh well lol
I highly doubt he’s going to be willing to take a minor league deal. If he’s undecided and doesn’t find an MLB deal, I’m pretty sure he just retired. If the Nationals or some non contender just looking for a veteran to fill some space on a cheap deal that they can flip at the deadline is the most likely deal he gets. And I’m sure someone may take a flier on him like that, though it’ll be a low, possibly with incentives kind of deal. But I’d guess if he only gets minor league offers that he just retires.
Have you looked at how low the standards are now to play 3B for a team. Theres some nice players at the top, but the bottom thins quickly. He will have to take quite the cut, and earn his playing time, but someone will offer a ML contract to go to spring training with them.
Players hate this clown. Word has it he’s always been the bully type until now, when he sucks
@sacrifice
We have too many clowns in MLB as it is. Used to have guys playing through injuries and still being productive and then in the off-season, having to get a real job. Nowadays, they make millions and are on the IL every single year.
Oh, no, I hurt my arm because all I know how to do is throw a ball really hard.
Oh, no, I hurt my ego and upper body because all I know how to do is swing hard to hit HRs or strikeout and can’t possibly adjust my swing to deal with the defense. I need the commissioner to change the rules so I can still stay in the game.
OY…I get what yer saying but those times were gone with free agency so yer literally talking the 1970s when guys had legit off season jobs..thats 50 years ago man turn the page
@Poolhalljunkies
I was just backing up my claim that they’re a bunch of clowns. IL-claimants all around. When you have pitchers that throw hard and hurt their arm, clearly, they’re not pitchers, they’re just guys going up there throwing hard. Same nonsense with the terrible hitters. We value guys who strikeout a ton and hit 45HRs a season and get a walk here and there but no one is able to drive them in. What a joke of a league.
Old York: You’re absolutely right. Players used to have a second job to supplement their income. They had to play hard every game, sometimes through minor injuries, just to keep their jobs. With players making so much money now, they don’t seem to try so hard to come back be a use they’re sitting on their big, fat wallets. TA is an example of that. Always injured with something he could probably play through if he wasn’t making millions. He doesn’t seem interested in playing anymore. His defensive and offensive skills have eroded.
TA? What is so hard about actually typing out a players name.
@pool hall junkie
100% agree. Watching players like Schwaber and Muncy hit .200, occasionally walk into one, and be treated like the 2nd coming, makes me miss the Ralph Garrs, and Mickey Rivers, They had their faults, but they kept the line moving. The reason Home Run Derby only happens once a year, rather than being a weekly series, it that every game is now home run derby. Just try asking a White Sox player to drive in a run with a base hit. They just don’t know how.
Adding on to what poolhalljunkies said…
After the 70s came the steroid era. HGH was really helpful in getting back on the field quickly.
@Joe says…
Yes, I’ve made that point earlier. Bring back the PEDs so these clowns can stay on the field for at least 1 season…
Can you name a few clowns you mentioned in the MLB? I’m curious to see what others’ lists are. I would have to say in my opinion, the top 5 clowns currently are Tatis Jr, Machado, Tim Anderson, Donaldson, and Amir Garrett
@Yanks2
Those are some of the top names. I’d put Soto & Stanton on that list for their antics and injuries.
What Stanton antics?
Rendon
I don’t know anything about Donaldsons personality aside from calling Anderson “Jackie”.
It was actually Anderson calling himself Jackie and then Donaldson referring him to the name…..but I know what you mean.
Not quite. The in-fighting between TA and Donaldson goes back to when Donaldson was with the Twins. In a game at Sox Park there was a play at 2b. Donaldson and TA got into a war of words. Donaldson didn’t just say “Jackie”. He went further with his racist comments. Donaldson was fined, suspended and had to apologize to the Robinson family for his remarks.
What else did he say ?
Enough that he was fined, suspended and had to apologize to the Robinson family.
U diss the game but yet here you are. Heaven forbid a player gets hurt right
Donaldson’s rep is he’s liked by his own teammates on whatever team he’s on because he’s a hard worker, and loves to study and talk about hitting, but he’s disliked by the opposition because he’s always the guy riding the other players. He used “Jackie” because Anderson sort of compared himself to Jackie Robinson in an article, and he knew Anderson was sensitive, so he was trying to get under his skin. He succeeded! It also showed the Donaldson has a tin ear not realizing that might come back to bite him, even though he was basically implying that Anderson he was no leader like Jackie Robinson.
He’s one of those players that’s tolerated as long as he’s good. Appears to have aged out, so this likely is his last season. He probably knows that himself.
Yanks will hand him 6 mil to go away. Then he can join AJ Pierzynski in the retired players Hall of Jerks.
Haha I’ll never forget the collision at homeplate with Pierzynski and…someone on the Cubs?
Michael Barrett
I am so glad he took the money and ran from Hotlanta
olereb;
Actually, the Braves didn’t even make him a competitive offer…if one at all.
Braves fans were all over this comment section complaining that the owners – Liberty Mutual – were “cheap” and that Austin Riley was already a failure and wouldn’t amount to anything.
Samuel, I think you’re wrong about that, Braves made him an offer, if my memory serves me correct. The Braves offered less years,3 I believe and the Twins offered both more money and more years. I too was upset that AA did not pony up, but AA has proven to be one of the best GMs in baseball. The Braves have one of the best teams in baseball but I also know winning the World Series does not mean you are the best team in baseball, it means you are playing the best at the time.
Calm down. Donaldson is the A.J. Pierzynski of his generation. If he’s your teammate you love him. If he’s on the opposite team he’s a bulldog against you. Hendriks talked trash because he’s a notorious bulldog (or dick) too. Glad he beat cancer tho.
The only Yankee I ever disliked more than Donaldson is Derek Dietrich and Logan Morrison, albeit both barely even played a game for them
Josh may not play in 2024, but he’s not the one walking away. He has a $10MM opt out the Yankees will have to pay. He’ll make them make the move, as he should. He simply waits for the Yankees to not pick up his $16MM option, he gets $$10MM payout, and then announces he won’t be playing in 2024.
Now, in fairness, he just returned and his exit velocity is up from last year. The Yankees will probably give him the next month before ripping the bandaid off.
I’ve heard it wouldn’t be too big of a surprise for the Yankees to keep him next year as it will only cost 6 million to do so.
Provided he can stay somewhat healthy and not completely suck.
@Joe says…
Donaldson is only 5% worse than league average, from last year and this year, so I’m sure you could find worse players out there.
@Joe, yes, the gap between keeping Donaldson and letting him go is only $6MM, but he’ll have to show there’s still life in his bat. Since returning from the IL in early June last year (so a whole season of games), he’s been bad. Even the numbers he put up last year were heavily driven prior to June. I think they’ll give him the next month, although have no idea who would replace him. DJ has his own issues now. Peraza?
That’s a big proviso joe.
Well hopefully he gets released by mid season so the Yankees won’t have to wait till next season to decline that option. I really don’t cares who signs him for free basically.
I’m rooting for Donaldson to not be cooked and go on a hot streak to help the Yankees, but I suspect that’s not going to happen.
Even if he doesn’t play beyond 2023, he’s racked up a good amount of money, he’d retiring with a over 160 million in the bag and a pension. He’s going to be just fine.
He’s had a great career, but the end is rarely pretty for professional athletes.
True, but he’s also a later bloomer, so he’s having to be creative and/or fight for that end-of-career $. If he’d re-signed in ATL, Riley probably wouldn’t have been extended playing COF and perhaps traded, depending on his ability to adapt defensively. Also imagine his padded stats in a lineup anywhere similar to what ATL has now, where even the 7-9 hitters are outperforming most teams’ 1-3. (40 runs in a 4-game series vs. COL (not at Coors Field)?).
I think the Braves FO are a little sharper than that. No way would they have chosen Donaldson over Riley, and they didn’t. Can’t wait for the next Braves-Rays series
I can’t believe these guys still get a pension. Donaldson has made over $160m? Yeah, I can see where he’d need something to supplement his income.
The pension is more for players that don’t make it. $34,000 pension for a player that plays in 43 games. $100k for 10 plus years of service. It’s definitely geared more towards the player that makes league minimum.
Players that last 10 years are not making league minimum.
A MLB pension ensures that they can put a good product on the field. Think about how many players forgo college and pursue baseball full-time in their early 20s. It’s a big career risk if baseball doesn’t work out for them. MLB always need journeymen and util guys in the game.
I don’t think he has any choice about not playing after this year and he would be doing the Yankees roster a favor if he quits now.
Looks like he already retired by the way he’s playing the last few years.
He’s a jag bag. Very nice career, Maybe even could have been Hall-worthy w/o the injuries. That said, teams only put up with his antics when he’s producing.
He should retire right now
“I can’t believe AA didn’t re-sign Donaldson and let him get away.”
To be fair, he may have stayed healthier these past few seasons if he stayed in Atlanta. They kept him on the field for the entirety of his lone season there. It could’ve just been luck for both parties, but we’ll never know for sure.
Not many teams can do what the Braves do. It’s pretty miraculous how good they are at drafting, scouting, developing and trading. Freddie Freeman leaving in free agency? No problem. We have a top offensive catcher in baseball? Let’s get another one and make it work. They’re also able to distinguish one-year wonders from multi-year talents. I absolutely hate them, but it’s mostly jealously.
Precisely what Cashman and the Yankee staff are bad at………scouting/drafting is sketchy to say the least regardless of when you are drafting, developing seems to be of question as they seem to come up with warts, and trading is the Achilles heel as they can’t seem to discern between one hit wonders and multi year talents then can build around……the Stanton trade was what started much of this mess in motion and continues until this day…..$150 million for a player who can’t stay healthy, can’t consistently field a position, when he does run pulls something, and then takes about 60-75 at bats to “feel comfortable again” only to end up on the IL about 60-75 bats later……and he clogs up the money train from Hal given his salary………
Exactly right. The Stanton deal haunts them to this day and defines this Yankee era.
I think every Yankees fan has decided they’re sick of seeing him take up a roster spot
Not this Yankee fan. Speak for yourself Kreskin.
Are you a fan of Donaldson’s weakly hit ground balls and stat padding HRs in blowout games?
Vin?
IMO, a lot of NYY fans are over-reacting. JD’s problems are injuries, not performance. He has a 2.7 bWAR/600 ABs with the NYY.
Most of Donaldson’s WAR comes from his strong defense at 3B. He’s borderline useless offensively anymore
He has a 95 OPS+ each of the last two years. As a RS fan, I’d love to see them DFA him and replace him with DJ?
I’d bank on DJ returning to form offensively before Donaldson and no, Peraza is the guy who should get a shot at 3B right now
Time for some big changes at Yankee Stadium. Big bucks spending not working.
The season has good time to go but the numbers – wins versus losses make it tough
To gain any ground. The AL East needs realignment as does the NL West.
As for Josh, retire time is here….
“Big bucks spending not working.”
I don’t think this is the problem. I actually think the Yankees spent in the wrong places. They could’ve gotten Machado or Harper. They could’ve gotten Senga or Yoshida. They’re just investing in the wrong talent.
No, because when those players were FA’s, the Yankees were unwilling to go over the threshold, having already spent up to it. Then they saved for Judge. Which of those would you rather have than Judge? If they signed one of them, Judge would be a Dodger or Giant.
It’s not the big book spending that’s the problem, it’s how the money is being spent. Obviously the one in charge doesn’t know what he is doing anymore. might be wise to invest your money in players not perpetually injured for a change.
VonPurpleHayes & Dr2022;
MLB is not rotisserie league where a player produces the same way no matter who owns his rights.
As I noted below, the Yankees don’t know how to make their position players better or how to deploy all their players. They simply don’t have an organization.
What usually happens is that they sign past-their-peak veterans for too much money over too many years. The players get jacked up playing in NYC for the Yankees where they’re treated as celebrities their first year. Shortly after their production slowly dwindles and they get injured.
Then there’s Anthony Volpe. NYC raised, says he wants to be Derek Jeter. Local and national media love him. The guy is playing a below average MLB SS and can’t hit .200. So they focus in on his stealing 15 bases without being caught. The young man’s 22 and should have been sent back to AAA over a month ago to work on things. But who really understands how Hal Cashman thinks?
“MLB is not rotisserie league where a player produces the same way no matter who owns his rights.”
I definitely agree with this, but I think the guys I highlighted would perform well anywhere.
I would suggest that the issue is injuries (it pains me to say that as a RS fan). They are on pace for 88 wins without Montas, Rodon, and a decent amount of time off for Judge, Donaldson & Stanton.
If one wants to blame Cashman for signing injury-prone players, I think that’s a reasonable discussion. But the NYY have plenty of talent.
The young man’s 22 and should have been sent back to AAA over a month ago to work on things.
==================================
I’ll go one step further and suggest that it was a mistake to promote him in the first place. I absolutely loved him as a prospect, but his 30/8 K/W in AAA suggested that he had things he needed to work on. His OPS in his last 14 games in AAA was only .526 with a 24/4 K/W, and one HR.
Even worse, imo, is that he was only 21. There was no need to rush him. And almost as bad, they had no game plan for IKF. IKF was plenty good in 21 & 22, and probably should’ve been the starter in 23. Instead, they promote a guy that was arguably not ready, and relegate IKF to the outfield, where his GG SS bat simply doesn’t play well.
Feel free to look at the injuries sustained by the other teams in the division. Tampa Bay lost 3 of their 5 starting pitchers early. So how are they so in front of the Yanks? Every team can have a “what if there were no injuries?” article. Even the Tigers have 7 Starting pitchers on the IL currently. If you dont have the depth to survive those injuries, thats on Cashman, because every GM knows injuries will happen. How many $15MM+ players are on the Yanks? How many on Tampa Bay? It’s pretty straightforward.
Worst trade in baseball history
Yep. Right up there. Thankfully it’s not for long
I think it’s commendable to want to spend more time with your family at this stage of your career, but it’s odd to openly say this during the season, especially when your team is struggling. It makes it seem like he’s giving up, which he definitely is not. It’s just bad optics.
It’s to bad he decide to retire in 2021 !
Will he be able to play this whole campaign ?
Given how he is playing I wouldn’t be so sure of finishing this season much less playing next
Eh, some team might be able to offer him 100 games a year (if he were capable of staying on the field) but he’s no longer a regular. That’s worth something in a contract–maybe $2-3M, but he’s neither good enough or durable enough to spend more.
Somebody out there will give him(Donaldson) a whirl for free. Looked how good its worked out for Aaron Hicks in Baltimore.
Captain-Judge99;
The O’s had Hick targeted for a while. The Yankees don’t know how to work with their position players to make them better. The O’s saw things in Hicks approach that he could modify.
The Yankees do have a terrific pitching coach that has improved many of their pitchers that were stuck in neutral; but the manager and FO don’t know how deploy them correctly.
@Samuel-Agreed. The Yankees can’t be scoring 2.5 runs a game and expect to win. Their obviously in a lot of trouble. I never liked Boone from the beginning. He always over manages. It’s definitely time for a change. Unfortunately, Cashman isn’t going anywhere either.
I was watching the last NYY/RS game. It literally jumped off the page at me that Jansen was coming in to face McKinney, Cabrera, Trevino & Volpe for the save. The injuries hurt, but it feels like the lineup should still be better.
Agreed. They seem to think adding yet another injury prone pitcher will help .
This is an article that you would call a nothing burger. It is quite hilarious, as if he thinks he would have a choice in the matter.he is so bad, that the Yankees cannot wait to get rid of him. Only thing stopping them is the remainder of his contract that they owe him.
I do believe that he said if he thought he could not play anymore, did not have anything left, he would retire. Well if his performance this year is not evidence of that, I don’t know what would be. Time to retire now Josh, save us all the trouble.
Donaldson is an example of why some owners and general managers are reluctant to offer players over the age of 30 more than a one year contract, and instead either trade the players for prospects or let the players leave as free agents..
Right now the bigger worry for Yankee fans is whether Aaron Boone will still be the skipper come Fourth of July.
As to that remark about how Yankee free-agent signings are “treated as celebrities their first year”? Ed Whitson is calling.
He’s emotionally checked out. Too bad. He had a ton of talent. Too bad the Yanks can’t get a shrink and have him empty the tank to get something out of him. Basically that trade weeds out to IKF & Rodvert for either club. Not a loss,but not a win I’d be proud of.
He’s being marginalized for his unconventional beliefs the same way Trevor Bauer has been victimized through collusion.
well, that and he is 37 years old and hasn’t hit over .260 in 6 years.
He gone. Past his prime time
2024? Looks to me like he hasn’t yet decided to play in 2023.
Unless Donaldson has a second half for the ages he’s done after this season as no one will offer anything more than a minor league invite to spring training
For all the people continuing to think the Yanks are gonna just cut him… not gonna happen. His D is too good. But beyond that… maybe a final year with the A’s? Something tells me he doesn’t need the headache of that dumpster fire.
Has he decided if he’s going to play this year tho?
Great, relevant story.
Based on this years stats, seems he’s undecided about this year as well.
Now that they got rid of Hicks (and he’s doing great in Baltimore), Yankee fans new whipping boy is Donaldson.
Yankee fans know so little about baseball that they think one part-time player determines a teams fate each year.
The Yankees problems primarily come from Hal Cashman.
It also doesn’t help that national writers have some of their prospects ready for the HOF when they’re in the lower minors, and Yankee fans actually believe those stories they happily click on.
JD has many great options for next year. There is the Mexican League, KBO, and of course the Independent league.
I remember back in ‘95 or so MLB had the Sunshine League in Florida which was designed for older players who’d retired or ran out of options in the majors. Only lasted one year, but i thought it was a good idea. I don’t think they made any money from it.
And especially the couch
I gotta talk to my family and see if I can hit .210
He’s always been super overrated and proof WAR is a flawed statistic.
What about the times he finished 4th, 8th, 1st, 4th, 22nd, and 11th in MVP voting? Or do you blame WAR for that as well?
Joe;
To most posters here 2021 is “Back in the Day”.
He will be somebody else’s problem next year
Hopefully
please just go away !