Former MVP Josh Donaldson Officially Inks Minor League Deal With Milwaukee Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers have signed veteran third baseman Josh Donaldson to a minor league contract, the team announced Thursday. The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal initially reported on the Brewers' potential interest in Donaldson a few hours earlier.

The New York Yankees released Donaldson on Tuesday. Donaldson was in the final season of the four-year, $92 million contract he signed with the Minnesota Twins in 2020.

Donaldson will now report to Triple-A Nashville. According to USA Today's Bob Nightengale, Donaldson is expected to be on Milwaukee's major league roster within a week.

By joining the Brewers before Sept. 1, Donaldson is eligible to make the club's postseason roster. Milwaukee is currently clinging onto a 3.0 game lead atop the NL Central with a month left on the schedule, looking to clinch their fifth postseason berth in six years.

The Brewers' veteran third baseman Brian Anderson already lost his starting job to 26-year-old rookie Andruw Monasterio coming out of the All-Star break. Monasterio is batting .200 with a .560 OPS since Aug. 4, leading to Milwaukee's interest in Donaldson.

Donaldson, who is 37 years old, hit .142 with a .649 OPS and -0.1 WAR in 33 games with the Yankees this season. He had been on the injured list with a calf strain since July 16, but was gearing up for a rehab stint in the minors before New York cut him loose.

Donaldson initially broke out with the Oakland Athletics in 2013, then took his game to another level when he got traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in 2015. That season, Donaldson beat out Mike Trout for AL MVP.

From 2013 to 2017, Donaldson averaged 33 home runs and 98 RBI a year while posting a .282 batting average and .901 OPS.

Donaldson was traded to the Cleveland Guardians in the midst of an injury-plagued 2018 campaign, then he signed a one-year "prove it" deal with the Atlanta Braves in 2019. The third baseman spun that into a massive contract with the Twins, and he was still averaging 34 home runs and 88 RBI per 162 games while hitting .250 with an .856 OPS as he entered his mid-30s.

Once he joined the Yankees, though, his production fell off a cliff.

Even though he still recorded 25 home runs and 76 RBI across 165 games in New York, Donaldson hit .207 with a .678 OPS in pinstripes.

The Brewers already rank No. 26 in batting average, No. 25 in OPS and No. 22 in home runs, so it isn't as if Donaldson could make their offense that much worse. Milwaukee has also used five different designated hitters in the last seven games, so Donaldson could provide stability in that spot as well, if he is healthy.

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