*Photo from Elite Sports NY*
Rain won't be brought by this player anymore. 3B and former AL MVP Josh Donaldson has announced his retirement from baseball after 13 seasons. He broke the news on The Mayors Office podcast with Sean Casey.
According to Donaldson, he had opportunities to continue his career but decided to retire after getting married in the offseason. Debuting in 2010, Donaldson logged 13 seasons in the major leagues and made his mark on the baseball world in a Toronto Blue Jays uniform.
Donaldson said on his retirement that "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. 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."
Last season, Donaldson was limited to just 50 games due to a calf injury that kept him out for a long portion of the year. Between the New York Yankees and Milwaukee Brewers, he had a .152/.249/.418 slash line with a 79 OPS+, hitting 13 home runs with 26 RBI's in those 50 games.
Making his first career All Star Game in 2014, the man known as the bringer of rain took off in a Blue Jays uniform in 2015. He blasted a career best 41 home runs and led the major leagues in RBI's with 123 and runs scored with 122, also career bests. His 352 total bases also led the AL. That helped him win the AL MVP after finishing in the top 10 the last two years, becoming the second Blue Jay to win MVP.
In 2016 and 2017, Donaldson exceeded 30 home runs in both years, making his 3rd straight All Star Game in 2016. He won the Hank Aaron Award in 2015 as well while accumulating a 33.1 bWAR between 2013 and 2017, second best in the majors in that timespan, trailing only Mike Trout.
Mixed in between a strong season with the Atlanta Braves in 2019, Donaldson has been dealing with calf and hamstring injuries throughout the last few seasons of his career. His stats between the Yankees and Brewers in 2023 were some of the worst offensive numbers of his career.
Donaldson spoke further on his retirement, saying "I just really felt like it would have had to be a perfect situation for me to go back and play. 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."
Over his 13 seasons in the majors, Donaldson has played for 7 different teams since debuting in 2010. He has a .261/.358/.489 slash line with a 129 OPS+, blasting 279 home runs while adding 816 RBI's in 1,383 games. He has a .247/.336/.392 slash line with 12 doubles, 5 home runs, and 16 RBI's across 50 playoff games.
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