The Toronto Blue Jays and superstar Josh Donaldson have allegedly agreed to a new contract.
The two parties achieved a consensus on a two-year, $49.7million deal, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.
On Feb. 4, Greg Warren of the Score said Donaldson was under Toronto’s control through the 2018 season, but the team and the defending American League MVP “are feuding over $450,000,” which would have led to an arbitration hearing if the two sides hadn’t reached a resolution.
Donaldson is a fan favorite in Toronto, and he stated he would love to stay there the rest of his career during a radio appearance in November (via Warren): “I absolutely adore the city, and I could see myself spending my entire career here. I would love to complete my career in Toronto. I adore playing there; I would want to be able to do anything, but I’m not the one calling the shots.”
Warren labelled Donaldson’s $4.3 million earnings in 2015 “modest” because of his 41 home runs and league-leading 123 RBI.
Outside of the power figures, Donaldson hit .297 and tallied a career-high OPS of .939 and a career-best 8.8 WAR, per Baseball Reference. The head-turning WAR total, which was second only to Mike Trout in the American League, was a result of superb fielding at the hot corner as well as prowess at the plate.
According to FanGraphs, Donaldson posted 11 total defensive runs saved over average at third base last season. He won the MVP Award and led the Blue Jays to the American League Championship Series, in which they lost to the eventual World Series champion Kansas City Royals.
There is plenty of weight on general manager Ross Atkins’ shoulders moving into next season. Though Donaldson has been taken care of, superstars Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion are expected to be free agents following the 2016 campaign.
That threesome constitutes the offensive backbone of the team and was a big reason why the Blue Jays topped the majors in runs scored, home runs, RBI, total bases, on-base percentage and slugging percentage in 2015. Bautista hammered 40 home runs, and Encarnacion added 39 as part of probably the most fearsome combination of sluggers in the league.
