Cynics and wise guys would say Josh Donaldson retired two years ago, when the Yankees acquired him in a mystifying trade with the Minnesota Twins.
The former Yankees third baseman, who was a $50 million bust in his two seasons in the Bronx, announced his retirement on Monday, and ESPN radio host Michael Kay — who also is the Yankees play-by-play announcer on YES Network — took the opportunity to roast general manager Brian Cashman for one of the worst trades he’s ever made.
In March 2022, the Yankees traded infielder Gio Urshela and catcher Gary Sanchez for Donaldson, shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa and catcher Ben Rortvedt.
After two years of watching Donaldson fail at the plate and listening to fans boo him, the Yankees released Donaldson before the end of last season and he was signed by the Brewers, who quickly bailed out of the playoffs. Donaldson will live on as one of the Yankees’ all-time worst deals.
“If you think about that deal with the Twins — and everybody who listens to the show, I get a lot of grief for it … I think that Brian Cashman does a very good job — but that trade with the Minnesota Twins is one of the worst trades he’s ever made ever,” Kay told his audience on Monday afternoon.
“Just think about how it worked out: Josh Donaldson, you got to pay him $50 million for two really bad seasons and that clogged up third base for you to do anything else. You brought in [Isiah Kiner-Falefa] to play shortstop. It was an epic failure. He ended up being somewhat valuable to you when he could play all over the diamond, but as a shortstop that wasn’t happening and he didn’t even start at shortstop in the postseason that year. And then the second year of that he played all over the diamond.
“And Ben Rortvedt … I guess his contribution was that he ended up catching Gerrit Cole after Jose Trevino got hurt, and he caught Garrett Cole to the tune of a Cy Young Award. But in all likelihood, he’s not going to make the team this year and doesn’t have any options left,” Kay said.
“So think about that: You trade Gio Urshela, who could have played third base instead of Donaldson. And you trade Gary Sanchez, who you didn’t think was going to be able to work out in New York — and he wasn’t going to work out in New York — but all you had to do is release him. Instead, you made this trade and you assume $50 million in contract for Donaldson. It turned out to be one of the worst trades that Brian’s ever made. There’s no way you could argue differently.”
Did they trade for Donaldson for his defense?
“No, I think they thought he could still hit,” Kay said. “Because they wouldn’t have taken on $50 million in salary [just] for guy who could pick it at third. Although he is a better defensive third baseman than Ushela, what Urshela could have given you offensively compared to a diminishing Josh was so much better.
“And again, all you had to do was release … Gary Sanchez. He was due to make $6 million. If you had released him in spring training, you would have only owed him $1.5 million. Instead, you took on $50 million in Josh’s contract. And it turned out to be a terrible deal.”
Kay added that when the trade was made, “I had a couple of people that I know from Minnesota call me up and go, ‘Are the Yankees serious? They got Josh?’ You know that the whole [Twins] organization is cheering today.”
Kay said the Yankees wanted Donaldson’s brashness in a milquetoast clubhouse, “but you can’t have an edge if you’re not performing” and “Donaldson just wasn’t the same player as he was in Toronto, [where he won an MVP]. Minnesota was thrilled to get rid of him.”
