‘Toxic’ Josh Donaldson trade big part of Yankees downfall: Jeff Passan

MLB

By Mike Rosenstein

August 24, 2023 | 11:20am

Brian Cashman can’t win them all, but he certainly shouldn’t have lost this one.

ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan, in large part, defended the Yankee GM on the “Michael Kay Show” for some of the moves that have potentially put his job in jeopardy — saying that the Giancarlo Stanton trade and DJ LeMahieu signing were “celebrated” at the time, only to go “sideways” since.

However, there was one move Passan could offer no defense for.

“The Donaldson trade was terrible,” Passan told Kay.

“That was bad from the jump. I think the Donaldson trade was bad from the start because the Yankees knew just how poorly he was getting along with people in Minnesota. There was some toxicity going on there. I don’t think you can look at the Donaldson trade in any positive way.”

The Yankees sent catcher Gary Sanchez and infielder Gio Urshela to the Twins in exchange for Donaldson, infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa and catcher Ben Rortvedt.

At the time of the trade, Donaldson was 35 years old and coming off a season in which he hit .247 with 26 home runs.

However, in his two seasons with the Yankees, Donaldson has hit a combined .207 with 25 home runs.

He also was was involved in a controversial dust-up when he called White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson “Jackie” last season.

Donaldson — the 2015 AL MVP — has also struggled to stay healthy, missing time over the last two campaigns thanks to various injuries: calf, hamstring, hand, and shoulder.

Now 37, the third baseman played in 132 games last year and just 33 this season.

As bad as the Donaldson trade was, Passan identified the root of Cashman’s struggles since the Yankees’ last World Series title in 2009.

“To me, the cause of all of this – of the necessity to go out and get out of these guys – the greatest place you can criticize the Yankees over the last 15 years is their drafts,” Passan said.

“They’ve drafted incredibly poorly over the last 15 years.”

The Yankees are about to find out if that’s still the case after calling up top prospects Everson Pereira and Oswald Peraza this week and promoting Jasson Dominguez to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.