Despite former American League MVP Josh Donaldson only having one more year on his contract before being eligible for free agency, don’t expect him to be wearing a different uniform in 2018.
While Toronto Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro wasn’t as bullish on Donaldson’s long-term future with the club, he said it’s “almost a certainty” the third baseman won’t be dealt this winter.
“It’s hard for me to imagine a scenario where Josh Donaldson isn’t part of a championship team here,” Shapiro said on Sportsnet 590 The Fan’s Jeff Blair Show Wednesday. “But I think [GM] Ross [Atkins] and the baseball staff will walk through all of those scenarios.
“It’s almost a certainty that he’ll be back here next year.”
Donaldson is hitting .268/.390/.554 with 30 home runs and a WAR of 4.4. The fact that he’s been limited to 103 games because of calf injuries hasn’t helped the Blue Jays’ cause this season. They’re 71-80 and well out of playoff contention.
Donaldson’s ailments were just some of the problems the team faced, Shapiro said.
“If even a couple of the seven or eight things that went wrong this year hadn’t happened – if [Aaron Sanchez] had been healthy, if Josh Donaldson had not gotten hurt, if Russell Martin had not gotten hurt, if Devon Travis hadn’t gotten hurt … I can keep going, by the way – we’d be at least in the wild card mix right now,” he said.
With Donaldson expected back and Marco Estrada re-signing for one year and $13 million – “Marco is both a player and a person that we have tremendous respect for,” Shapiro said – the Blue Jays could look very similar next season.
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And Shapiro knows that means their record could be very similar, too.
“This year was not outside of the range of outcomes that we might have expected,” he said. “That doesn’t mean we’re not bitter about it. That doesn’t mean we’re not disappointed.
“We said all along that because of the maturity of our roster and the maybe lack of balance – along with the lack of upper-level talent and depth, due largely to trades – it was a precarious position that we were fortunate to avoid last year and one we were unable to avoid this year.
“Frankly, unless we can re-position the team, which is almost impossible to do through free agency – it’s definitely [not] impossible to do – and through trades it’s even harder, it’s going to be a similar story next year.”
Here’s what else Shapiro had to say:
On having a more youthful and balanced lineup
“We’d look much different on the field if we could ideally build it. But you can’t just flip a switch. We could flip a switch and get younger, but we might not get better. We need championship players. We need talent to win games deep into October and win the last game played. Certainly, we’d like to be more balanced, more athletic and younger. But that’s a process.”
On the possibility of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. or Bo Bichette playing in the majors at any point next season
“If we’re having to debate if they should be here, they will not be here. If they go to double-A next year and demolish that league, then they’ll move to triple-A. And if they go to double-A next year and demolish that league and, there’s both a need here and an opportunity, I think they would enter in the conversation up here. They’re obviously special talents that had absolutely incredible seasons, among the best in professional baseball. We should be excited about that and not feel hesitant to talk about it.”
On whether there’s concern about Roberto Osuna’s performance and what that means for off-season plans
“This is a young pitcher that bore an incredible burden over two years and pitched late into October, not just a lot of appearances and a lot of innings, but high stress, high leverage on the biggest stages of baseball. It’s natural to have some level of regression or fatigue. He’s already proven he has the toughness, the makeup, and the personality to handle that role and handle the adversity that comes with it. We’re not going to approach it any differently. The most important thing for him to do this off-season is focus on his conditioning and come into camp both having rested his arm and conditioned his body to handle that role next year once again. Hopefully, with some of the down time this year, do it in a way that carries the team to a championship.”
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