Josh Donaldson, Atlanta Braves
The changes in how MLB teams value players, combined with Josh Donaldson’s age (33) and injury history instantly makes him an intriguing free-agent case study. Not necessarily for this past winter, though. It wasn’t surprising that he signed with the Braves for a one-year deal following a season in which he was limited to just 52 games and 219 plate appearances.
The $23 million he’ll receive was probably a little surprising, but Donaldson is likely hoping there’s more where that came from if he can re-establish value with Atlanta.
While his 1.3 fWAR between the Toronto Blue Jays and Cleveland Indians was a clear step down from the previous five years (at least 5.1 fWAR each year from 2013-17), a lot of his rate stats didn’t take drastic drops. His strikeout rate has spiked, but his walk rate (14.2%) and other plate-discipline numbers stayed on par with career norms.
Donaldson’s .203 ISO was a definite step down, but he managed to do that despite a 47.8% ground-ball rate and 35.1% fly-ball rate, both career-worst marks if sustained over a full season. His 41.0% hard-hit rate is encouraging, though. It’s up to the veteran third baseman to prove he’s still one of the game’s top sluggers. Getting a long-term deal will be difficult regardless of his performance, but a rebound resembling some of his earlier work in Toronto would certainly help.
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