The vibes have not been good for the New York Yankees fanbase this season. The team made minimal changes this offseason and the roster got worse, resulting in them falling well out of a postseason spot and currently sitting in last place in the AL East. It's unknown what changes will come this offseason, as it sounds like the main figureheads will come back. One of those figureheads is general manager Brian Cashman, who has not gotten in the good graces of the fanbase due to his questionable moves in recent years. One of those moves was acquiring Josh Donaldson from the Minnesota Twins.
Since joining the Yankees, Donaldson became one of their worst hitters in the batting order in the past two seasons. Yet, he remained in the lineup. That all changed when he picked up a calf injury that resulted in him being placed on the 60-day injured list back in July. On Monday, manager Aaron Boone said that Donaldson was working his way towards a rehab assignment with the chance to return this season.
One day later, the Yankees officially released Donaldson from his contract.
Yankees fans celebrate Josh Donalson's release from the team
Let's just say that Yankees fans really enjoyed this news on social media. In fact, some said that this was the highlight of the season for them.
Before the 2022 season, the Yankees weren't in on any of the top shortstop prospects. Their lone move was their trade with the Minnesota Twins to bring in Donaldson, shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and catcher Ben Rortvedt in exchange for third baseman Gio Urshela and catcher Gary Sanchez. Cashman lauded his lone transaction of that winter, saying that Donaldson was an upgrade over Urshela defensively. While Donaldson was good defensively in New York, his hitting was abysmal. To make the move that much more confusing, they acquired Donaldson to team up with Gerrit Cole, whom he notably called out and accused of using SpiderTack in 2021.
In 2022, Donaldson recorded a .222 batting average, a .308 on-base percentage, a .374 slugging percentage, 15 home runs, 59 runs, 62 RBI, 106 hits, 148 strikeouts, and 54 walks in 478 at-bats through 132 games. Those numbers didn't get on the fans' good side, as they noticed the drop off in his numbers as compared to previous seasons. There was also the controversy that Donaldson created for his comments towards Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson, earning him a one-game suspension.
This offseason, Cashman and Boone still backed Donaldson, believing he was still a star. Boone even said that those who don't believe he could have a bounce-back year were "crazy." Those comments, predictably, backfired for Boone and the Yankees brass who tried to justify that the trade was a good one and not a disastrous one.
Donaldson played in 33 games this year due to hamstring and calf injuries. In 106 at-bats, Donaldson recorded just 15 hits, 10 of which were home runs. Donaldson slashed .142/.225/.434 while recording 13 runs, 15 RBI, 32 strikeouts, and 12 walks.
Overall, Donaldson recorded a .207 batting average, a .678 OPS, 25 home runs, 77 RBI, 121 hits, 180 strikeouts, and 66 walks in 584 at-bats this year.
The Yankees tried to positively spin that Donaldson was the right player to bring in, but the fans didn't buy it. Now, with over a month to go left in the season, the Yankees decided to part ways with the former AL MVP. Now, the fanbase will wait and see if the team will make any significant moves across their organization after this season ends.