Atlanta Braves: minimum 4 year offers are confirmed for Josh Donaldson

There is merit to waiting out the process, it seems.  While most pre-offseason predictions guessed a 3-year Donaldson pact, the Atlanta Braves and others are now universally at 4 years.

On Monday, we echoed a report from Jim Bowden that the Atlanta Braves had made a 4-year offer to free agent third baseman Josh Donaldson.

Some greeted this new with skepticism… some were simply hoping that it wasn’t true (that 3 years should be the max)… and still others were thinking that it should already be signed, sealed, and delivered if 4 years had been offered.

While we can’t comment on the latter belief, multiple new sources are now confirming Bowden’s earlier information – which almost certainly places the former MVP and 3-time All-Star in the position of courting 4 year, 9-figure contract offers.

We are (obviously) still waiting on a decision from Donaldson, but here are the new nuggets we have today:  the first bit comes from MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.

Starting at roughly 2:22 of this MLB Network video, Feinsand updates everyone on the state of the 3rd base market:

"There are at least 3 teams that are making very serious bids for Josh Donaldson:  the Twins, the Nationals, and the Braves all have four-year offers out to him in that $100 million range.The Dodgers are still a team in the mix; the Rangers have said they’re not in the mix, but there are some people who believe they could emerge as a bidder as well."

He went on to note that while Donaldson is the ‘last man standing’ in terms of quality options for the position (he didn’t put it that bluntly), he and his agent should be feeling no pressure to sign before they are ready since the demand for his ‘market’ remains high.

Independently, Dave O’Brien managed to locate someone who confirmed the Feinsand report:

Contingencies

It is fairly obvious that only one team will ‘win’ Donaldson’s glove for 2020 and beyond with this $100-ish million dollar rose, so there have been some rumblings about today that teams are scouting about with their preferred Plan B options:

TEXAS – Writing in the Dallas Morning News on Tuesday, Evan Grant notes that the Rangers “have reached out” to Todd Frazier while also talking to Colorado about Nolan Arenado… or at least trying to keep that conversation going.

While the above suppositions about Donaldson and Texas are undoubtedly true, you’d have to think that the Grant story might suggest that they really aren’t considering Donaldson to be a serious option.

ROCKIES – No, they aren’t after Donaldson, but everybody else involved has to be thinking ‘Nolan Arenado’ at some level, so let’s just talk about him in general.

While the chances of trading Arenado vary wildly depending on who you listen to – or even when you hear them – it’s very clear that the chatter is increasing.

Today there’s 2 new pieces of information of relevance:  here’s the first bit.

That may be so, but just a couple hours after this was tweeted, the White Sox locked up Robert for 6 years and a nice tidy $50 million… with some bonuses and 2 options years included.  He’s not going anywhere.

However, I do know of a team that has another young, dynamic, and right-hand-hitting center fielder who might interest the Rockies… Cristian Pache of the Atlanta Braves.

Not at all saying I’d back such a deal… just noting that this could certainly be a conversation starter if the Braves end up having to look in the Rockies’ direction.

This second item is also from Jon Morosi:

That story he refers to includes this:

"One source said that as many as a half-dozen teams are in contact with the Rockies regarding the possibility of an Arenado trade. The Braves, Rangers and Nationals are believed to be among the group. The Cubs also loom as a possible suitor, especially if they trade former National League MVP Kris Bryant in a move to obtain young pitching."

Immediately, that note about the Cubs has to be dismissed:  the only reason they want to move Bryant is for payroll reduction purposes.  Ergo, it makes zero sense to get involved with another player who’s more expensive than Bryant.

As opposed to the Cubs, the Braves would at least have the prospect capital available to ‘buy down’ the numeric cost of Arenado:  Morosi mentions Pache, Drew Waters, Austin Riley, and a young pitcher as matching up well with the Rockies’ needs.

In fact, it’s hard to imagine any other club having a better matchup… at least from the Rockies’ perspective.

Personally:  sending Pache or Waters, (a blocked) Riley, and a pitcher ought to be enough to get a substantial discount on Arenado’s contract.  But once again, that’s a topic that can be revisited if Josh Donaldson decides to go elsewhere.

In the meantime… we all continue to wait for JD.