Blue Jays: Potential trade partners for Josh Donaldson

Entering free agency at the end of the season, Josh Donaldson is an obvious August trade candidate, but has only been able to play 36 games in 2018. Nonetheless there will certainly be some teams interested in the three-time All-Star, and 2015 American League MVP third baseman.

Editor’s note: The writer submitted this article a few days ago, and to his credit, it should have been published before now. That said, a hat tip to Jon Heyman for his similar article.

Josh Donaldson was supposed to be traded in the July trade deadline, and although the Blue Jays had talks with other teams on a possible deal involving the third baseman according to Blue Jays General Manager Ross Atkins, the discussions did not come to fruition and the 32-year-old remains a Blue Jay. The fact he’s still a Blue Jay is simply because he hasn’t played a baseball game since May 29th due to left calf tightness and suffered a setback during his rehab, which ended the possibilities of him being traded prior the non-waiver trade deadline.

Jon Heyman of Fancred Sports and MLB Network reported on August 7th that the former MVP was set to begin sprinting that week and could soon eventually join the team. Adding on to that, Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson Smith reported that Donaldson has been working out and running, which indicates he’s inching closer to a return.

All health issues put aside, Josh Donaldson has proven he’s one of the best players in Major League Baseball and someone who can be a difference maker at any time, including October, which is really what teams look for in August trades. His career playoff numbers are quite impressive. He has a career postseason slash line of .292/.361/.475 with an OPS of .836 along with four home runs and 13 RBI’s in 120 at bats.

The best situation for the Blue Jays is to have Donaldson comeback, clear waivers, prove he’s healthy and put up a show for about a week or two, and ultimately draw interest from contending teams. Nothing guaranteed, but surely possible.

Here are the teams who could be interested in acquiring the 2015 American League MVP.

Atlanta Braves

The Braves currently have Johan Camargo as their everyday third baseman, and although he is playing at a good level (.792 OPS, 13 home runs) acquiring Josh Donaldson would be an upgrade (if healthy) over the young promising player, who they could use as a utility man. Braves General Manager Alex Anthopoulos brought Donaldson to Toronto in a trade with the Athletics, so he certainly likes his former star player.

Atlanta is also in the race to win their division and acquiring the former 32-year-old MVP could give them the edge. They might want to take advantage of Donaldson’s current low value and take a gamble on a player that can be absolutely decisive in high leverage moments and games. Another factor that could contribute to their interest is Donaldson’s veteran presence. That MVP pedigree and postseason experience can complement well with their young core.

St Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals have won eight of their last 10 games, a streak that has put them straight back into playoff contention. They’re 2.5 games away from the second National League Wild Card Spot and a healthy Donaldson could certainly help in their playoff push. Their need of a big infield bat isn’t such a necessity as it was in the past offseason because Matt Carpenter, Jedd Gyorko, and Jose Martinez, currently playing first and third for the Cardinals, are having solid seasons, with Carpenter is particular raking after a slow start.

Nonetheless, shifting around the field in order to play Donaldson at third is a possibility as they’ve all played at different positions in their careers. Another point worth making is that the Cardinals made a strong push to acquire Donaldson in the offseason but Toronto wasn’t considering any trade involving the former All-Star third baseman.

New York Yankees

This might seem a bit of a crazy thought, but the Yankees have lacked production from first base all season long. Greg Bird, Neil Walker, and Luke Voit are their first base options at the moment. They have OPS’s of .713, .640 and .574 respectively (the latter one in just 23 at-bats). Therefore, acquiring Donaldson and playing him at first, or moving rookie Miguel Andujar to first, would make their lineup even scarier and make their World Series aspirations even more realistic.

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The Blue Jays will definitely explore any trade possibilities for Donaldson but perhaps keeping him and extending a qualifying offer to the third baseman might be the better option for two reasons. If Donaldson accepts the qualifying offer then you have another year of an MVP caliber player (if he’s healthy) who you could trade at next year’s trade deadline. If he declines the potential qualifying offer, then the Blue Jays would get a compensatory pick in next years draft which could be a better prospect than any prospect they get in a trade offer. At the end of the day, it will simply depend on what the Blue Jays are offered in exchange.

Boston Red Sox

The team with the best record in baseball likely doesn’t need any more help, but you can’t rule out the possibility either.

The urgency for help isn’t as big as it was now that Rafael Devers is back from injury, but it remains to be seen how Alex Cora will handle third base going forward. In addition to Devers he has other options like Eduardo Nunez and Brock Holt, but none offer the potential upside that a healthy Donaldson could bring to the lineup.

Again though, I’m not sure the Red Sox need to focus on their offence if they’re still looking to improve the team. At 85-35 they should feel pretty good about where things are at, even if Donaldson would offer a theoretical upgrade.