The Toronto Blue Jays are said to be committed to moving on from Josh Donaldson, but questions remain about whether there will be any interest in the third baseman when he is placed on waivers.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Blue Jays are planning to place Donaldson on revocable trade waivers before Friday’s deadline and that they “have no motivation to keep him.” Donaldson has not appeared in an MLB game since May 28 because of a lingering calf issue, and he’s still owed around $4 million this season. Despite that, Jon Heyman of Fancred Sports has been told teams are showing interest.
josh donaldson came through last night's game fine and is going on trade waivers today so he can be traded on Friday's waiver deadline. #STLCards and #Indians seem like logical spots, but sources suggest there are other teams showing some interest.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) August 29, 2018
Donaldson went 1-for-2 with a walk and an RBI in a Single-A rehab assignment Tuesday night, and there have been no indications that he suffered any setbacks.
Donaldson will turn 33 this offseason, and the Blue Jays will have to make him a qualifying offer of around $17 million if they choose to go that route. Given his injury history, it makes sense that they don’t want to risk him accepting that offer and sticking around.
You can understand why teams would be interested in Donaldson if he’s healthy, as he’s only a year removed from hitting 33 home runs and batting .270. He hit 37 homers and drove in 99 runs in 2016 and had 41 homers and 123 RBI the year before that, so Donaldson was a productive player not all that long ago.
