Toronto Blue Jays

[Axeman33]

It's going to be sad when Donaldson is traded for a player to be named later.. Why can't we just qualify him and trade him next year??

Because he isn't worth the qualifying offer (somewhere around $18M) to the Jays or anyone else at this point. No one is going to trade for him making that much money simply because there really isn't that many teams who want/need him at that price.

Rewind back to the pre-season when the Jays signed him to his current one year deal, prior to going to arbitration. He wanted a long term deal and the Jays were hesitant to give it to him because of his age, and the fact he just finished having injury issues the season before. Donaldson said his age wasn't a concern and I am sure in his mind it wasn't but thankfully the Jays management didnt bite and sign him to that long term deal. How bad would that look right now. That being said, THAT was the time to deal him; before he could go out and have the season he just had.

It's too bad because Donaldson is still an excellent ball player, when healthy. Unfortunately, that isn't often enough to pay him that much money anymore. Plus, when your best young player who's flying through the system and ripping up every level hes playing in plays the exact same position, you dont want to block him.

If you listen to the "experts", the reason the Jays won't qualify him is because they fully expect Donaldson to accept the offer and that's not what they want because they simply don't want Donaldson at that price.

It's sad how quickly he's fallen in value, not only to the Jays but also to other teams.

[bondon]

It's not my money, but I think taking the chance on a QO for Donaldson for $18 mill is a risk worth taking from an asset management standpoint. When this guy is healthy and in the lineup he's legitimately a top tier player. Unless you think his calves have completely fallen apart I think the downside here is minimal and the upside is huge, especially for a team that NEEDS assets.

If not for the asset management then just for the player then for fk sakes. This guy was a huge piece of our team when we made big waves, gave this team so much and was the first Blue Jay to win the MVP award in 31 years. He deserves at least one more shot.

[2014olympicgold]

If they trade him for a nobody, or don't QO him, that'll be a mistake in my eyes.

[PenguinHunter]

https://www.tsn.ca/reports-donaldson...ight-1.1165638

He has cleared waivers and will be traded by midnight tonight... wow!

[Axeman33]

I saw somewhere that they were saying that there were twice as many scouts in the stands for his games yesterday as there were fans. A few teams interested.

[bondon]

This is an absolutely atrocious way for them to be parting ways. Fans won't get a chance to say goodbye, and it's going to result in a lot of bad press once Donaldson speaks about the situation.

[PenguinHunter]

Pretty soon we are gonna be saying that the 3rd base position is a cursed spot for the Jays...

Lawrie and now Donaldson.

[LawMan]

We will have to see the return obviously but re-signing him to a 1-year deal and trading him once he hopefully gets healthy next season would result in a much better return IMO then what he will net the Jays by midnight.

Seems like asset mismanagement. But I suppose their is no guarantee he re-signs with the club in the offseason if they keep him? a really bizarre way for him to leave if he does go.
Sidenote: Bautista is now a Philly....

[2014olympicgold]

We will have to see the return obviously but re-signing him to a 1-year deal and trading him once he hopefully gets healthy next season would result in a much better return IMO then what he will net the Jays by midnight.

Seems like asset mismanagement. But I suppose their is no guarantee he re-signs with the club in the offseason if they keep him? a really bizarre way for him to leave if he does go.
Sidenote: Bautista is now a Philly....

I doubt Donaldson would take a 1yr deal. I doubt he'd even resign with the Jays. He's def going to FA

[Axeman33]

Hes going to FA and going to be signed for a lot less than his current contract.

[Axeman33]

I dont normally agree with Damien Cox, but he nails it here:

https://twitter.com/DamoSpin/status/1035844186937819136

In two years, Jays drop from third in MLB attendance to 13th. Avoiding that dropoff was why they adopted the phony "trying to win" approach that failed badly and left them with nothing from Donaldson deal. So they lost games, lost fans and lost assets.

[havanablast21]

I dont normally agree with Damien Cox, but he nails it here:

https://twitter.com/DamoSpin/status/1035844186937819136

Bang on! The leadership here is going to stagnate the team. Another reason I have zero interest. Wonder how they’ll mess up the window with the new kids coming up.

[2014olympicgold]

Hes going to FA and going to be signed for a lot less than his current contract.

In september 2017 over 23 games he hit 29/92(0.315), 4dbls, 10HR, 20RBI, 13walks with a slashing line of 0.315/0.396/1.081. If he has a big September and playoffs, he can get a large payday.

Term may be a different story though.

Jays apparently have the 5th best system in baseball right now for prospects.

[Axeman33]

I'm not sure I'd agree that the "trying to win approach failed badly" - I mean, they did make the playoffs two years in a row after living in mediocrity outside the playoffs for, what, 20+ years? They owed it to the fans to go for it during that small window.

Or is Cox talking solely about this season and last season?
If so, then yes, they should have recognized much, much earlier that blowing it all up and going younger had to happen. Donaldson, especially, should have been dealt much sooner instead of riding his value all the way down.

I took it as him referring to this season and last season. They should have dealt Donaldson back then instead of trying to sell false hope that the Jays were still contenders.

[2014olympicgold]

I took it as him referring to this season and last season. They should have dealt Donaldson back then instead of trying to sell false hope that the Jays were still contenders.

I took it as Cox using his 20/20 hindsight vision to say what a large mass of people are saying.

I dislike him, and he just said what peoples opinions are. Meaningless "Yeah they should have done that thing back then that a lot of people are saying! Look at this stat!"

We don't know what the ticket sales would be if they traded Donaldson in December. They could be 30th in the league, we never will know.