Blue Jays file numbers for Josh Donaldson, Jesse Chavez

The Blue Jays have filed arbitration numbers with both Josh Donaldson and Jesse Chavez, though neither filing has a particularly wide margin

The Blue Jays and Josh Donaldson have a little disagreement on his value. Emphasis on “little”. Well, at least in baseball terms.

Both parties have now filed their arbitration numbers, with Donaldson’s camp filing at $11.8 million and the Blue Jays filing $450,000 lower at $11.35 million. It’s rather surprising that the two sides couldn’t find a comfortable middle ground earlier in the day and avoid another potentially unenjoyable process, but Toronto remains a “file and trial” organization.

With that Chris Davis comparable, expect the Blue Jays to build their argument around Donaldson’s production over the past year to be worthy of an equal or lesser jump, but not more.

Davis received his record-setting arbitration raise after the 2013 season in which he hit 53 home runs with 138 RBI and an OPS of 1.004. That season was good for a 7.0 WAR, which Donaldson topped with an 8.7 WAR aided largely by his excellent defense.

Jesse Chavez is also headed to arbitration with the Blue Jays over a similar amount. The right-handed starter has filed at $4 million while the organization has filed $400,000 lower at $3.6 million.

Ben Nicholson-Smith also tweeted out that Drew Hutchison and the Blue Jays have settled at $2.2 million after Aaron Loup and Drew Storen settled earlier in the afternoon. This morning, the club also agreed to terms with Brett Cecil, Michael Saunders and Steve Delabar.

This leaves Donaldson and Chavez as the two outstanding cases. While the net $850,000 at stake is not substantial to the club’s financial picture, these are situations that teams and players typically prefer to avoid.