UPDATE: The Blue Jays have announced the deal.
It's official! The @BlueJays have signed @BringerOfRain20 to a 2-year contract, worth US $28.65 million #MVP pic.twitter.com/iVR8JuoRPp
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) February 10, 2016
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UPDATE: Donaldson's two-year deal is reportedly worth $28.65 million, according to Ronald Blum of The Associated Press.
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Josh Donaldson lost his arbitration hearing (as a Super Two player) against the Toronto Blue Jays last offseason, but this time around rumors suggest he's benefitting from the arbitration system.
The Blue Jays and Donaldson have agreed to a two-year, $29 million contract extension, according to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca. The deal covers Donaldson's first two official arbitration years, but his third remains unsettled as of right now. He's under club control through the 2018 season.
FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal and Jon Heyman confirmed the deal as well.
The reigning American League MVP came over in a trade with the Oakland Athletics last offseason and helped the Blue Jays to their first playoff appearance, AL East division title and ALCS appearance since the 1993 season. He batted .297/.371/.568 with 122 runs scored, 41 home runs and 123 RBI in his second consecutive All-Star campaign.
Toronto is known as a "file-and-trial" team, meaning they typically head to arbitration hearings with players when there is a difference in the salary figures submitted and a multi-year deal cannot be worked out. However, the Blue Jays and Donaldson were only $450,000 apart in their figure exchange, which would have been a senseless arbitration hearing if the club was actually going to fight over that money.
Instead, Donaldson will be taken care of nicely for the next two years.
"Resolving a potentially sticky situation amicably is sure to rebuild any of the goodwill between Donaldson and the Blue Jays that may have been lost when the sides couldn't agree on a deal before last month's filing deadline," Davidi writes.
Rumors from last week indicated the Blue Jay were hoping to sign Donaldson (and other players) to extensions this offseason. General manager Ross Atkins told reporters he'd like to have Donaldson in Toronto for "as long as humanly possible."
MLBTradeRumors.com projected Donaldson would earn $12 million in arbitration. The slugger filed for an $11.8 million salary in 2016 and the Jays countered with $11.35 million. He'll now average around $14.5 million over the next two seasons (Davidi noted the deal was worth "nearly" $29 million).
Donaldson, 30, will enter his second season with the Blue Jays in 2016 as the club hopes to recapture its magic from last year. The slugger will have two things to defend: his MVP award and the team's AL East title.
