Braves Sign Josh Donaldson – MLB Trade Rumors

7:27 p.m.: The signature is now official and the Braves announce it.

1:35 p.m.: The Braves would have made the biggest independent strike of the off season until now, accepting a one – year contract with the most valuable former player of the American League. Josh Donaldson. The contract would guarantee Donaldson the same $ 23 million salary he earned in 2018 and give MVP Sports' client an opportunity to return to the free agency next winter – hopefully on the heels of a a healthier and more productive season than the one ruined by the wounds 2018 campaign through which it has been struggling.

Donaldson, 33 in December, had only played 219 games in front of the plates this year while he had suffered a shoulder injury early in the season and from a calf injury that had cost him about three months of action. He posted a solid but unspectacular .246 / .352 / .449 line and eight homers when he was healthy – above-average production compared to the rest of the league but far from the composite .282 / .377 / .524 line he connected from 2013-17.

[Related: Updated Braves depth chart and Braves payroll outlook]

If healthy, Donaldson will give a huge boost to an already impressive lineup of Braves – not to mention high-end defense in hot bends. Atlanta has already had a luxury job at third base thanks to Johan Camargo, but the Braves will now have the luxury of deploying Camargo to a number of positions. Camargo, who will soon be 25, can at least give the Braves some protection at the third, short stop and second. In a speculative way, it would not be surprising to see Atlanta test it in the bends outdoors during the spring training; if Camargo proved capable, the Braves could deploy it in a Marwin Gonzalez or Ben Zobrist-that fashion, by granting him fairly regular bats while spelling Donaldson, Dansby Swanson and Ozzie Albies, among others.

The agreement with Donaldson marks a meeting between the slugger and general manager Alex Anthopoulos. The two men are familiar with Anthopoulos 'past as General Manager of the Blue Jays, and the trade that brought Donaldson to Toronto stood out as one of the most successful movements in Anthopoulos' career. (Kendall Graveman, Franklin Barreto, Sean Nolin and Brett Lawrie went to A. in return.)

The salary of $ 23 million, combined with the reported salary of $ 2 million that the Braves will pay in addition to the independent agent Brian McCann, will push Atlanta's payroll forecast to $ 117 million. It's already about a million dollars in 2018 and just under $ 5 million in the franchise record, so it seems obvious that the title and core emerging from the NL East Braves have prompted the property to become more aggressive in terms of payroll. By adding Donaldson to the heart of a training that also offers the title of rookie of the year Ronald Acuna and long-term MVP candidate Freddie Freeman, the Braves have already made waves that will have significant repercussions on the 2019 division race and will put additional pressure on their rivals such as the Phillies, the Nationals and the Mets to strengthen their numbers as they seek to stay competitive in a rapidly improving division.

Steve Phillips from MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM first tweeted that the two sides were close to an agreement. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported the agreement and the terms.