A lesson MVP should have learned by now

JOSH Donaldson was obtained as a necessary evil. Yeah, the Yankee baseball department believed he still had skill. But they had no interest in acquiring him for free — much less tied to the $50 million he was still owed — without gaining access to a cost-efficient shortstop (Isiah Kiner-Falefa) and catcher (Ben Rortvedt) they had been targeting. They knew enough about the distaste he had left in most of his previous stops. Heck, he was only available along with the bribes of Kiner-Falefa and Rortvedt because the Twins wanted him less than a 10-game losing streak.

Yet a quarter of the way through the season Rortvedt has dealt with multiple injuries that have limited him to two minor league games and he is out until around the All-Star Game after needing knee surgery. Kiner-Falefa has been good on defense, but not quite as good as the Yankees hoped while his offense remains below average.

Donaldson had been, by far, the most useful player the Yankees had received in that trade. He shook off a slow offensive start to hit for the most impact over the last month of any Yankee not named Aaron Judge or Giancarlo Stanton. His defense has been terrific, not a small matter for the team that leads the majors (by a lot) in inducing grounders to third base — notably led by lefties Nestor Cortes and Jordan Montgomery.

Maybe being on a veteran team with legit championship aspirations was bringing out the best in Donaldson, not just on the field, but in toning down his worst interpersonal inclinations.

Nope.

Whatever Donaldson’s intent Saturday when he — by his own admission — twice referred to White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson as “Jackie,” it was wrong-headed, particularly coming from a player who long ago should have learned the value of a filter. This all has been litigated and re-litigated in recent days and this is one of those issues — like too much in our society these days — in which most folks come with their viewpoint regardless of facts.

So I will only add this if it matters: Donaldson said he wanted to give “context’’ to his comments by citing that Anderson stated “I kind of feel like today’s Jackie Robinson” in a 2019 Sports Illustrated article. But if we want to give “context,” that was a minor element in the piece. The theme was about Anderson feeling isolated as the lone black American on those White Sox while playing in a league with about a 7 percent black American population. He was invoking Robinson hoping he could be a trailblazer of bringing a style of play that would make black Americans more receptive to playing and watching the game.

Even if you think that is audacious, why would a 3-year–old article be on Donaldson’s mind in the middle of a May 2022 game? And who deputized one of the most polarizing players in the sport to retroactively police this? Had Donaldson not noticed he is up to his seventh organization because, in part, he feels the need to say whatever strikes him without much concern about how it will be received?

Even in his own clubhouse, Donaldson is not finding support for what he said, so why would Yankee fans, for example, feel compelled to defend it?

Aaron Boone and his players have insisted that pertinent, tough conversations have been had and that the team has strong leadership and will work through this.

We will see. At minimum, Donaldson has brought self-inflicted discomfort into the clubhouse. In this way, more and more, he reminds me of David Wells, especially in the pitcher’s first Yankee tenure (1997-98).

Like Donaldson, Wells was talented. Like

Donaldson, he went through a lot of teams. Wells seemed uncomfortable going too long without attention and heat around him. He lacked the ability to edit words and behavior to avoid inducing stress on the team — all of which plays familiarly to Donaldson. In 1997, Wells — among other things — infuriated Derek Jeter by showing the shortstop up on the mound when Jeter did not catch a pop-up. He incensed a whole team, notably manager Joe Torre and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre, by pretty much purposefully getting thrown out of a game early in hellish humidity in Miami with the Yankee pitching staff in a particularly disheveled state. He drew a fine from Torre for wearing Babe Ruth’s cap while pitching.

In 1998, David Cone, in particular, took Wells on as a personal challenge, attempting to moderate the lefty’s worst instincts. Wells was the ace of a champion that year — and the Yanks traded him afterward for Roger Clemens because, yep, they wanted Clemens, but they also no longer wanted Wells.

The current Yankees drew comparisons to the ’98 Yankees because their record was so strong so early. Of course, the record did not make this club that machine. Now, we will see if they have the leadership of those champions. Does any player want to take on Donaldson as Cone did Wells, or has goodwill toward this player already eroded?

Because, like Wells in ’98, these Yankees need Donaldson’s talent, not a penchant to create unnecessary fires.