Both sides win with Blue Jays' new Josh Donaldson contract

In a game and era where management is constantly willing to pay obscene amounts of money to players transitioning out of their primes, the Toronto Blue Jays have handled Josh Donaldson‘s near future in a fiscally responsible way. That’s not to say the 30-year-old is on direct line to Washedupville, but new President Mark Shapiro is inclined to exercise caution with long-term, inflated contracts.

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It’s a rarity when a player like Donaldson wins an MVP award while being paid a salary earned in arbitration. The sum of $4.3 million in 2015 was a hell of a deal for the Blue Jays. Donaldson anchored the lineup en route to American League MVP honors where he led his league in runs scored and batted in. He went on to finish inside the top five in total hits, doubles, home runs and OPS. Most importantly, the slugger returned Toronto’s baseball club to postseason relevance and helped captivate a nation for a few weeks in October.

As the figures were first reported by Shi Davidi, the deal is a friendly one for both player and club. Firstly, it recognizes Donaldson’s value and avoids the awkwardness of another arbitration scenario. Donaldson originally filed for $11.8MM, while Toronto countered with $11.35MM.

If the star third baseman plays anywhere close to how he has in past seasons through 2016 and 2017, he’s likely in line for one final contract in the five to six years range. It’s too soon to know if the Jays could be bidding for that or an extension, but at least Shapiro and the organization has no chance right now of being stuck paying a potentially downward trending hitter upwards of $20MM per season at age 36, much akin to one of the problems plaguing the Philadelphia Phillies with Ryan Howard.

It’s not known how the payout will be structured yet, but Donaldson will earn $28.65MM from 2016-2017. That’s an average of $14.33MM per season and is substantially more than arbitration would have paid him this season. The Blue Jays will continue to get one of the more talented corner infielders in the league through some of his prime years, yet he will be making less in 2016 salary than three other MLB names at his position. Not a bad price at all for an MVP quality swing.

In 2018, Shapiro and the club could revisit things while still having the flexibility to look at other parts of the roster that need addressing. And while Blue Jays fans might not want to hear it, should Donaldson’s name ever come up in trade discussions, the terms of the contract are moveable and not nearly as intimidating as some other gaudy ones out there attached to far less productive players.

It’s evident that Shapiro’s approach is already a little bit more refined that Alex Anthopoulos’ was. It’s clearly part of the reason he and Toronto parted ways in the first place. While AA was the architect who brought Donaldson to Canada, he also showed a propensity for signing aging position players to long-term deals.

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Jose Bautista was inked to five years and $64MM at age 30 in his 2011 season. Edwin Encarnacion signed an extension for $27MM and three years with an option on the fourth ($10MM) in his age 30 season. These have proven to be lucrative deals for Toronto, but every now and then, a GM misses his mark and overpays. In AA’s case, the jury is still out on Russell Martin, who will be 33 in a few days time and is still owed four years and $75MM. Catcher’s do tend to break down before most other position players.

For now, the bottom line is Josh Donaldson is happy, management is happy and fans of Toronto Blue Jays baseball are happy with this contract. Given what the team is now committed to paying shortstop Troy Tulowitzki (potentially six more years and $109MM), Mark Shapiro did a skillful job negotiating with Donaldson’s agent. Both the club and player can now seamlessly transition into spring training with neither feeling like they were taken advantage of.

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