Blue Jays: Josh Donaldson lands in camp, remains awesome

Blue Jays third baseman and reigning American League MVP Josh Donaldson landed in camp today, and is already building hype for the 2016 season

It’s not every spring that an MVP lands in Dunedin, Florida for the Toronto Blue Jays spring camp.

Third baseman Josh Donaldson made his official arrival today, speaking with media this morning about the year ahead.

Donaldson made an interesting point off the top regarding the team Toronto expects to exit camp with. Last season, a handful of rookies and an unstable bullpen picture left several players fighting for their jobs well into April. With improved clarity this season, the Blue Jays could finally get out to that hot start they’ve been craving.

Like the rest of baseball, Donaldson is also expecting big things from the Blue Jays offence in 2016.

After his offseason appearance on the show “Vikings”, Donaldson joked that he’s now after Canadian actor Stephen Amell for a role on “Arrow”.

He’ll also be seeing some changes in the field this season, as the Blue Jays are in the midst of installing an all-dirt infield at the Rogers Centre.

Surprisingly enough, Donaldson is taking more of a wait-and-see approach to the new surface.

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“I’m kind of anxious to see what it’s like. I know if it’s like Tampa, I’m not going to like it as much. Last year, I felt like the stuff wasn’t very hard on the body, but I’m open to whatever,” he told Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com. “I really love playing in the Rogers Centre, so the fact of the matter is it’s not going to matter if it’s an all-dirt infield, grass, whatever; as long as I can hit there, I’m fine.”

He added that last year’s turf put the most strain on a player’s calf muscles, but if you’ve seen Donaldson’s calves, it looks like he’s smuggling grapefruits.

In regard to his recent two-year extension to avoid arbitration, the Bringer of Rain seemed very pleased that the organization showed their appreciation and value of his first year in Canada.

“I invested in this organization and did a lot for this organization in a short amount of time. I wanted to feel like what I had done in the previous season, that I was going to be taken care of for it, and I felt like they did that.”