It really hasn’t been that long in the grand scheme of things since the off-season still has over 2 months still to go, but the Atlanta Braves have been working priorities this Winter and third base isn’t done.
Last year, the Atlanta Braves signed Josh Donaldson ‘quickly’ – reaching an agreement on a 1-year contract early during Thanksgiving week.
That milestone has come and gone this year, but the circumstances are substantially different:
- Josh Donaldson is now a much more proven and desirable quantity, having produced at a high level both offensively and defensively for an entire season.
- He’s positioned near the top of a third base market that now consists of Anthony Rendon (for piles of dollars and lots of years), himself (lots of dollars, fewer years), a smattering of lesser free agents, and an undetermined trade market.
- Lots of teams need upgrades – or outright replacements – at that position.
It was said when Cole Hamels signed with Atlanta that the Braves were growing uncomfortable with the idea that Madison Bumgarner‘s price was creeping up into 9-figure territory (with Zack Wheeler getting $118 million, it’s probably there now).
With teams increasingly willing to take that page out of Atlanta’s playbook and go that extra mile (or extra year or extra $5+ million) to get that player they need, it appears that Donaldson’s representatives – Dan Lozano of the MVP Sports Group – is content to wait for a team to blink in this high-stakes stare down.
Donaldson is in an enviable position – he doesn’t have to take the 1st good offer he gets. Despite the draft compensation tag hanging around him, he’s pretty well assured of getting a strong offer from any one of at least half a dozen clubs. He can wait for that one team to cave in and offer that extra year or extra $5 million.
For a team like the Atlanta Braves that wants ‘certainly’ about third base – a term Alex Anthopoulos has repeatedly used in interviews, this doesn’t help their cause.
The feeling here is that the grace period – that open door where the Braves were intending to try their best to keep Donaldson around – is about to run out.
Their own spending has been high and it’s evident that they want the Bringer of Rain back for 2020, but there are expiration dates to such things.
This is a club that knows it now has an open window toward the post-season. It’s there whether Donaldson wants to be a part of it or not (though Atlanta’s chances would be enhanced with him on board, no doubt). But Anthopoulos can’t wait forever as other opportunities fall by the wayside.
The Trigger?
The tipping point may be the grievance hearing for Kris Bryant… whenever that might occur. His emergence on the market – whether he’s a trade target for Atlanta or not – would change that market… and thus perhaps establish prices for those interested in selling.
That can (the grievance hearing date) continues to get kicked down the road. It was supposed to happen in October… then November… then ‘before the Winter Meetings’… now those are upon us and there is no word about when it might be resolved.
For sure, this matter a lot to the Cubs – holding up their own off-season plans. Yet it’s also a big deal for Scott Boras and his client Bryant, who would love to be a free agent this time next year instead of after the 2021 season (when the MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement expires and everything will be messed up… that’s another topic/another day).
Regardless… as each day slips by, the feeling here is that Josh Donaldson’s return engagement may be slipping away.
That would make the off-season much more difficult to navigate from here… but nobody ever said it was supposed to be easy.