Washington Nationals are all in on Josh Donaldson
After losing out on re-signing Anthony Rendon, the Washington Nationals have turned their full attention to Josh Donaldson.
At this point in the off-season, the Washington Nationals are pushing hard to sign Josh Donaldson away from their division foe, the Atlanta Braves. With Anthony Rendon signing with the Los Angeles Angels, the team has a gaping hole at the hot corner.
With that being said, the team has the money and is rumored to be driving up the price on Donaldson. They were still all in on Rendon, so that would suggest they are willing and have the money to make a significant deal for Donaldson.
Other teams with rumored interest are the Texas Rangers, Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies. The question now is how much money will it take to secure his services?
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At this point, I think you almost have to remove the Phillies from this equation. The Nats and the Braves can outbid them after the contracts they have doled out this past off-season and this one. I think the Nats will make the most aggressive offer, but where will he choose to play?
To be honest, if the offers from the Braves and Nationals are similar, I think he chooses to play for the Nats. The opportunity to join the defending World Series champs on a title defense has to be hard to pass on.
Now don’t get me wrong, adding Donaldson doesn’t automatically put the Nationals in the World Series after losing Rendon. You simply can’t replace him, it’s not that easy. Rendon hit for power and average, while Donaldson leans more towards the power end of the spectrum.
To compare their past seasons, Donaldson hit .259 with 37 home runs and 94 RBI’s, while Rendon hit .319 with 34 home runs and 126 RBI’s. The ability to combine both power and average is rare and the Washington Nationals will miss that in Rendon.
Next. Nats offseason could hinge on Donaldson. dark
I see Josh Donaldson getting about what Madison Bumgarner got from the Arizona Diamondbacks, but I think it’ll be closer to the $100 million mark and I think he ends up in D.C. this next year.