The Donaldson sweepstakes is in full swing and the next few hours are likely to burn through a few phone lines… including those run by Alex Anthopoulos.
I’ll go ahead and hit the headline right up front: the Atlanta Braves are involved in the discussions with Toronto over an imminent trade of former All-Star and MVP third baseman Josh Donaldson.
Details are sketchy and this is obviously a fluid situation with less than 6 hours to go before midnight (Eastern time) playoff-eligibility trade deadline, but the best information we have at this hour comes from former Mets GM and current MLB Network Radio analyst Steve Phillips:
Sources: #BlueJays having discussions with #Yankees, #Phillies, #Braves and #Cardinals for @BringerOfRain20
— Steve Phillips (@StevePhillipsGM) August 31, 2018
All of these teams make sense. The clubs mentioned most prominently in recent days that are not on Phillips’ list include the Red Sox and Indians. Honestly, while things could change on that front, this is a situation in which time in critical, and therefore if a team is intended to be involved in the conversation… they’d better already be in on it.
Thus, this next bit of news should not be surprising:
Josh Donaldson was slated to be in single-A Dunedin’s lineup tonight but has been pulled. Not health related, I’m told. #BlueJays
— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) August 31, 2018
Frankly, everybody – truly everybody – expects Donaldson to be on the move tonight and thus he isn’t going to play. In fact, the Blue Jays have probably sent an armored limousine to their Spring facility in Dunedin to pick him up and requested a police escort to get him to the Delta ticket counter at Tampa’s airport – ready to buy a ticket to an unknown location.
Heck, might as well send him to Atlanta now – he’d probably have to change planes there in the worst case scenario anyway.
UPDATE FROM 2ND/3RD SOURCES:
Teams that have shown interest in Josh Donaldson, per sources: Yankees, Astros, Indians, Braves and Phillies. Others could jump in. About 4 1/2 hours until the deadline. Blue Jays would eat significant amount of the $4 million-plus Donaldson is owed.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 31, 2018
#Braves have indeed checked with #BlueJays on Josh Donaldson, source confirms @JeffPassan report. The teams are not advancing toward a deal at present, but a lot can change in four-plus hours. @MLBNetwork @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) August 31, 2018
> Passan adds the Astros and Indians to the mix; he does not include the Cardinals.
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The Human Trade Rumor
Donaldson, who will be 33 in December, is coming off his worst year as a pro, though still is carrying a lifetime .275 average with an .873 OPS through 7 seasons (close to 6 years of service time) between Oakland and Toronto.
He will be a free agent at year’s end, though any sign of returning to his former prowess would certainly go a long way toward helping rebuild some of the value he’s lost in 2018.
If the Braves were to acquire Donaldson (and for the record, he has no “no trade” provisions as a player coming off his last arbitration season), then some roster Gerrymandering would quickly take place, as the team is already posed to make some adjustments with multiple DL’d pitchers starting to look more healthy here at the deadline – but for Donaldson… yes, you make room for him if you can get him.
9PM EDT UPDATE:
Sources: Josh Donaldson has been told he's been traded to the Cleveland Indians.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) September 1, 2018
>> Not the Phillies; not the Cardinals. That’s at least not harmful to Atlanta’s cause.
We will obviously keep watch on this … only a few hours to go.