Texas Rangers have interest in Josh Donaldson, per report

MLB Rumors: The Texas Rangers have interest in Josh Donaldson, the free agent third baseman who just finished a terrific year for the Atlanta Braves, according to Jeff Passan, who tweeted out some notes earlier today.

This is expected, I think, given that the Rangers have a glaring hole at third base right now, and it is the one position that the Rangers don’t really have a viable internal option for. Passan says the Rangers “have money to spend” and are prioritizing third base and starting pitching.

Donaldson, who turns 34 in December, had a five year run from 2013-17 when he was one of the best players in baseball, and he won the American League MVP in 2015. He missed much of 2018 due to shoulder and calf injuries, prompting him to sign a one year, $23 million deal in late November, 2018, with the Atlanta Braves. After a 6.1 bWAR, 900 OPS season for the Braves, Donaldson is hitting the market poised to land a multi-year deal.

Given Donaldson’s age, he probably is looking at a 3 year deal, rather than the 7-8 year deals the top guys on the market, such as Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rendon, will likely get. The Rangers will, I’m sure, look at Rendon, but with several quality third base prospects in the system and Rendon being a top target of many teams, Donaldson seems like he may be the better fit. Donaldson has seemed like someone who will get around $25M per year, and on a relatively short term deal, he would make a lot of sense for Texas.