HOME AND AWAY
Josh Donaldson and the Jays opened a three- game set in Oakland, the 2015 MVP’s former home. Game coverage on Star Touch and at thestar.com. More on J.D.’s impact,
OAKLAND— Josh Donaldson’s laughter perforated the walls of the visiting manager’s office here Monday as John Gibbons had his daily tete-atete with the media.
“Hey, keep it down, man,” the Blue Jays manager yelled in jest at the third baseman with — as Gibbons has said time and again — a knack for driving up the volume of the clubhouse. “I’m holding a press conference in here.”
It doesn’t matter if things are going well or poorly for Donaldson, Gibbons said later. The swagger is there in good times — four home runs in five games heading into Monday night’s series opener against the A’s — and bad.
But being back in Oakland — his stomping grounds for four seasons before Toronto sent infielder Brett Lawrie, right-hander Kendall Graveman, middle infield prospect Franklin Barreto and left-hander Sean Nolin to the West Coast in exchange for Donaldson in 2014 — might have played a part in Monday’s exuberance.
“He’s a different cat, man. I know he likes to come here. This is where it all started for him,” Gibbons said.
Donaldson wasn’t quite the star that he is today when he left the A’s, but Gibbons said you could tell he was a good player in his appearances against the Jays from 2010 and 2014. He played 158 games in his final two seasons in Oakland.
He has, by far, done the most among the players involved in that surprise late-November deal, capped by taking American League most valuable player honours in 2015.
Graveman, Oakland’s opening day starter, has struggled to stay healthy and is currently on the A’s disabled list with a strained right shoulder with no clear idea of when he will return to Oakland’s rotation.
Barreto is knocking on the door to the majors after 51 games with the Nashville Sounds, Oakland’s Triple-A affiliate.
And then there’s Lawrie, the for- mer energetic Blue Jays infielder who spent this past weekend promoting Pringles’ new ketchup chips in Toronto after failing to find a home for this season, cut by the Chicago White Sox.
Donaldson’s arrival marked the start of “something new and good” in the Jays clubhouse, the manager said.
“You could sense a change when he and (Russell Martin, signed as a free agent) both showed up,” Gibbons said about his starting third baseman and catcher — who returned to Toronto’s lineup on Monday after three days out with a sore neck.
“There was a different attitude, different mentality. I think they brought some toughness to the team. And then, of course, we added . . . (Troy) Tulowitzki, (David) Price back then, LaTroy Hawkins. We were bringing in more of that type of player, and then it just kind of carried over. Big difference, in my mind.
“It had been a while, you know, here. I guess 23 years ain’t that long,” he added with a laugh, referencing the club’s playoff drought that ended in 2015.
Gibbons said he still isn’t sure how the deal came together. He’s just glad it did: “Somehow we end up with him and he’s done wonders for us. You could tell. He’s got that attitude. You guys see it. You guys know it.”
Donaldson has been a talking point when it comes to the possibility of a rebuild if the Jays miss the playoffs this season. The 31-year-old could be traded away for a decent haul of prospects before reaching free agency, and management has been open about the need to get younger.
Ask Gibbons, though, and the answer is clear: The Jays are better with Donaldson: “Good things happen with him, too. There’s definitely something different about him.”