Cleveland Indians: Josh Donaldson to be activated Tuesday

The Cleveland Indians will activate Josh Donaldson on Tuesday. Is there some controversy over whether he should even be in Cleveland, though?

One of the biggest deals of the August trade deadline was the Cleveland Indians picking up Josh Donaldson from the Toronto Blue Jays. Initially placed on the DL, Donaldson will be activated on Tuesday and make his Indians debut.

The Cleveland Indians have already announced that Donaldson will be activated from the DL on Tuesday and start at third base against the Tampa Bay Rays. He will return to the plate facing flame-thrower Tyler Glasnow for the Rays.

Certainly, based on the way he’s hit in his few rehab games, Donaldson is ready to come back. He’s hit .417/.533/.917 over 5 games with a pair of home runs and 3 walks without a strikeout. He’s also handled 8 chances at third base, and while he made a couple of errors early, he looked quite ready in his final game with Columbus.

More from Call to the Pen

• Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
• Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
• Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
• Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
• 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals

While he’s ready to come back, many teams around the league are upset that the trade was able to go through at all. According to reports, the entire league was sent a note with a noted warning about Donaldson’s status and a “buyer beware” tag. However, one of the provisions that many of these sources have said would trigger a revocation of the deal took place, and that’s upset fellow American League contenders.

When the league responded, apparently teams were satisfied with the league’s response, but when Donaldson was placed on the DL just after he was acquired, it raised a red flag with other teams as Donaldson was supposed to have been able to play immediately and would require immediate placement on active roster.

The details are not released, but from a report on MLB Network’s coverage this morning, one possible explanation would be that provided details about Donaldson’s injury did not cover something that the Indians found upon getting Donaldson into their care. That would allow them to DL him without any issue.

The Cleveland Indians will hope the rehab hitting is a sign of how Donaldson can hit once he’s on the field for the Indians, and the controversy will hopefully be behind them now.