Upon emerging from the owner’s lockout in March 2022, the Yankees perceived a necessity for a competitive advantage and believed that acquiring Josh Donaldson could infuse the desired mentality into the team.
On a serene Sunday during the shortened spring training, the Yankees made a decisive move, concluding the Gary Sanchez era. As part of the exchange for the enigmatic catcher, they secured the return of Josh Donaldson from the Minnesota Twins.
Approximately seven months afterward, the Yankees came to the realization that their acquisition of Donaldson had come a few years too tardy. This understanding continued to unfold well into the 2023 season and appeared to be affirmed on Monday when the 13-year veteran declared his retirement on Sean Casey’s podcast, during a conversation with his former hitting coach from the Yankees.
“Today is a sad but also a happy day for me to where I am going to announce my retirement from the game that I’ve dedicated my entire life around,” Donaldson said on the Mayor’s Office with Sean Casey. “It’s sad because I’ll be not able to go out there and play the game that I love anymore. But it’s also a very happy time that I get to be around the family and kind of take that next chapter in life.”
The concluding segment of Donaldson’s career, which spanned 1,383 games with the A’s, Blue Jays, Guardians, Braves, Twins, Yankees, and Brewers, unfolded during his 17-game stint in the last month of the previous season with Milwaukee. After being released by the Yankees, Milwaukee acquired him, and he recorded a batting average of .169 (10-for-69).
There’s a chance that someone could have made contact, but it would probably have been a non-roster invitation with no assurance that Donaldson would secure a spot on the team. This possibility is hinted at in his conversation on Casey’s podcast.
“I just really felt like it would have had to be a perfect situation for me to go back and play,” he said, “And there were a couple of opportunities out there, but at the end of the day, things really weren’t clicking and meshing for myself to be ready and go into a season mentally and physically ready to play.”
Donaldson posted a batting average of .207 with 25 home runs and 77 RBIs across 165 games for the Yankees. They brought him in after facing challenges in reaching the wild-card game in 2021. Additionally, in nine postseason games for the Yankees, he went 5-for-26 with 16 strikeouts. Despite some walkoff hits, including a midnight grand slam in the rainy dog days of August to overcome Tampa Bay, Donaldson’s overall postseason performance was marked by these statistics.
In theory, Donaldson provided the Yankees with a certain advantage, albeit one they didn’t anticipate or desire. This came to the forefront during an incident with Tim Anderson on May 21, 2022, as Donaldson slid into second base. Accusations arose that Donaldson had made a racial comment to Anderson, leading to an uncomfortable explanation from Donaldson. The White Sox expressed their displeasure, bringing up his past history, including incidents that had irked Lucas Giolito when both players were in the AL Central.
After only six games into the 2023 season, Donaldson sustained a hamstring tweak while running out of the box on a rainy afternoon, causing him to miss nearly two months. Subsequently, he suffered a calf injury shortly after the All-Star break, and his final appearance as a Yankee occurred on July 15 in Colorado.
Upon joining the Yankees, Donaldson was 36 years old, and there were indications that he might have been entering a decline phase, especially considering his .243 batting average over two seasons with the Twins. The Twins had signed him following a strong recovery from an injury-ridden 2018 season, where he showcased impressive performance by hitting .259 with 37 home runs and 94 RBIs in 155 games for the Braves in 2019. Notably, this included an outstanding .388 average with nine homers and 16 RBIs against the Mets.
The optimal period for the Yankees to enlist Donaldson would have been anytime between 2013 and 2016. During his last two seasons with the A’s, Donaldson achieved a batting average of .277, along with 70 home runs and 191 RBIs. In his initial two seasons with the Blue Jays, he maintained a .291 batting average, hitting 77 homers and tallying 221 RBIs.
During this timeframe, the Yankees were navigating the concluding chapters of the Alex Rodriguez saga, which had recently marked its 20th anniversary.
Rodriguez faced a suspension for the 2014 season due to his connection with Biogenesis. In his absence, the Yankees cycled through seven third basemen until Chase Headley took over the position following a midseason trade.
Headley was subsequently signed to a contract extension, and when Rodriguez returned, he had a relatively productive year. Meanwhile, Donaldson played a pivotal role in the Blue Jays’ journey to the ALCS in both 2015 and 2016. This period coincided with the Yankees’ shift towards a young core, prominently featuring players like Aaron Judge.
Occasionally, players are brought into a team at a stage in their careers where past accomplishments can’t compensate for the challenges of aging. This appears to be the case with Donaldson’s stint with the Yankees.
