The Braves spent a year with former AL player Josh Donaldson

The Braves are on the verge of recruiting former MVP third baseman Josh Donaldson on Monday, reuniting him with general manager Alex Anthopoulos.

Donaldson, who turns 33 next month, played for Anthopoulos in Toronto from 2015 to 2017, winning MVP his first year with the club. The most astute choice of Anthopoulos has been widely accepted. He sent a perspective package to Oakland for a player who would prove to be one of the best players in the game.

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After battling injuries throughout the season, Donaldson beat .246 / .352 / .449 with eight homers and 23 RBIs in 52 games last season with the Blue Jays and the Indians. It's far from Donaldson's standards, but the Braves' hope is that he'll be healthy and fit again in 2017, when he hit .270 with 33 home runs and 78 RBIs.

As Toronto struggled from 2015 to 2017, Donaldson scored .285 with a .946 OPS, leading 111 home runs with 300 RBIs.

When the Braves hired Anthopoulos, he rethought the trade between Donaldson and Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He cited the sustainability of Donaldson, which has eroded over the past two seasons, but also evoked his mentality.

"At the end of 2014, as an organization, we talked about changing some things and looking for a certain type of player, a certain mentality," he said. "The guys who can play through things, guys who are tough. Donaldson … he's a great player, but this column "games played" was amazing. … there is a kind of mentality that the player brings that can erase the other teammates. It's hard to quantify that sort of thing.

"I believe wholeheartedly that there are players who can improve other players. … There was a certain type of player that we were going to target from that day, and these were some of the things we learned from getting Donaldson and (Russell) Martin. There was a certain theme there for this team. "

Although Anthopoulos recently stated that he was satisfied with the current internal field, Donaldson offers the possibility of a major upgrade. The Braves would have caught the Florida native on a $ 23 million one-year contract by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The agreement is waiting for a physical.

Given the lucrative payment, Johan Camargo probably became a utility. But this upgrades the Braves bench while adding a powerful hitter in the middle of the range.

The Braves boast of a theoretical top four with Ronald Acuna, Ozzie Albies, Freddie Freeman and Josh Donaldson. Its ceiling will be determined by Donaldson's rebound.