DEALING WITH DONALDSON
The Blue Jays and their third baseman are far apart, and they haven’t even talked dollars yet,
The Blue Jays’ best player, 2015 American League MVP Josh Donaldson, has been offered the outline of a multi-year contract. He came, he saw, he listened — and he shut them down.
Ultimately Thursday’s initial talks of a contract extension between the star third baseman and his agent, Dan Lozano, concluded without any specific dollar figures being exchanged. The bottom line seemed to be that Donaldson is not seeing “eye to eye” with the Jays on the length of the extension. But they talked. “We’re not in the same ballpark to make a discussion to moving forward,” Donaldson said, without rancour. “To me it’s just not that big of an issue to focus on it right now or throughout the season. Because I don’t feel like the time is right, at the moment, and I just want to focus on what I can do to be better and what I can do to help other people in our locker room better.”
Donaldson insisted that contract discussions were not a priority now, so they have been shut down. But that does not mean they could not be reopened.
“I talked to Ross (Atkins) and explained to him that I think it would be best just to shut that down for right now,” Donaldson said. “I feel like it’s best for me to focus on myself and focus on this team because that’s what I know is going to help us win games. But that’s not saying that talks between the Blue Jays and I won’t ramp up again at some point, because I believe they will.”
Donaldson will earn $23 million in 2017, a deal that was negotiated without the need to go to a sometimes contentious arbitration process. That was a positive sign in January for the player-club relationship.
“I believe they want me,” Donaldson said. “If they didn’t want me, we wouldn’t be having any kinds of discussions at this point. They’ve been very good with the communication process, but we just aren’t eye to eye at this moment.
In what has been a painfully slow free-agent market, Donaldson has watched as the dam has started to crumble with some of the top free agents finally finding new teams. Eric Hosmer was the latest example, signing with the Padres in a complicated deal that takes him to maximum age 36. Donaldson is part of once-in-a-generation 2018-19 freeagent class that has been much anticipated and, for the moment, is led by hitters like Donaldson, Bryce Harper and Manny Machado.
Whereas in the past, franchises were willing to reward free agents up to the age of 39 or 40, based mostly on past performance, clubs are now balking at the risk of diminishing stats, something more common with the decline of performance-enhancing drugs. More clubs are only willing to pay a player to age 36 or 37. Donaldson feels he is not most players.
“My body feels great, I feel like I have several more years of performing at a high level,” the 32-year-old said. “Last year I was banged up, missed 50 games. I felt like it was one of the better seasons I’ve had in the big leagues (statistically). People look at it as, ‘He was injured.’ (The injury) wasn’t anything super-major. It was soft muscle tissue. I think that we’ve got a handle on that. I truly believe, where I’m at today, that I have longevity left in this game, performing at a high level.”
Donaldson, in his first four full seasons in the majors — two with the A’s, two with the Jays, averaged 157 games. He wants to get his participation back up to more than 150 games to silence any suggestions he might be injury-prone.
“That is one reason, for sure,” Donaldson said.
“The second reason is I know when I’m on the field the better chance our club has of winning, and that’s the most important reason. I want to be out there each and every day, grinding it out there with the team. Because I know the more that I’m out there at third base, the better chance we have to win.”
The Jays have at least opened the doors to negotiations, but what are their chances of keeping Donaldson in Toronto long term? If he wants a contract that takes him through age 39, that would be this year, plus seven more years.
Since Donaldson said his talks with Atkins and Shapiro never got around to a dollar number, then it must have been length of contract. If he sticks to his guns — and he has great faith in himself to perform at 39 — then the Jays will likely not be in the mix. Donaldson is comfortable in going to free agency.
But if he finds the best offers are stuck at four or five years, then the Jays could be in the picture. There are so many factors that come into play with Donaldson, including if the Jays get off to a slow start and are non-contenders at the trade deadline. But, hey, at least they have made an effort.