Josh Donaldson, who broke out as an American League MVP candidate with the Oakland A’s, announced his retirement from baseball on Monday.
Donaldson announced his decision on the “Mayor’s Office” podcast with former big league Sean Casey.
“Today is a sad but happy day for me,” said the 38-year-old. “I am going to announce my retirement from the game I’ve dedicated my entire life to. It’s sad because I will not be able to go out and play the game I love anymore. It’s also a very happy time that I get to be around the family and take that next chapter in life.”
Donaldson struggled last year, hitting just .152 within a .667 OPS over 50 games between the New York Yankees and Milwaukee Brewers.
He said he considered returning for another season, but the right opportunity didn’t present itself.
Donaldson will finish his 13-year career with a .261 average, .847 OPS, 279 home runs, three All-Star nominations and the 2015 American League MVP award.
He was originally drafted No. 48 overall by the Chicago Cubs as a catcher/third baseman out of Auburn University in 2007, but was traded to the A’s the following year as part of the trade for Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin.
He didn’t make it to the big leagues until 2010, when he hit just .156 in 14 games before being sent back down. He was called up and sent back down five times until the middle of the 2012 season, when something clicked.
“I started making changes, seeing how guys were pitching me, understanding that there were some pitches that I wasn’t able to handle and I needed to figure out a way to do that,” he said on the podcast. “My approach was, if it’s over the plate, swing. Once I got sent down the last time I started honing my approach and thinking, ‘I have to dictate the at-bat.’”
He was recalled for the final time on Aug. 14, 2012, and hit .290 with an .844 OPS over his final 47 games while leading the A’s to their first postseason berth since 2006. They won their final six games, including a three-game sweep of the Texas Rangers, to win the A.L. West on the final day of the season.
The following year in 2013, Donaldson exploded while hitting .301 with an .883 OPS and 24 home runs, earning him a fourth-place finish in the MVP voting while again leading the A’s to the postseason.
After another big year in 2014, Donaldson was due for a big raise, but the A’s instead traded him to Toronto for Franklin Barreto, Kendall Graveman, Brett Lawrie and Sean Nolin.
It ended up being a poor deal for the A’s, who finished in last place the next three years.
Still, Donaldson said he remembers his time in Oakland fondly.
“First and foremost the fans there are pretty spectacular,” he said. “By the end of 2012, 2013, they started showing up more and more. The true fanbase there, they were like our team: they’re grinders. They were out there supporting us through the best of times and the worst of times…
“We were always overlooked and we over-performed as a team because we were grinders. We weren’t able to get to the World Series, which is the ultimate goal, but we were picked to finish fifth in the division every year and we won the division in 2012…That was a pretty special time in my career.”
Donaldson won the MVP his first year in Toronto and continued as one of the game’s premier third basemen until his age-36 season in 2022, when he was traded to the Yankees and struggled to perform.
“The last two years were tough for me,” he said. “It’s tough to play in New York when you’re not winning. It’s especially tough when you’re not playing well.”
Donaldson said he got married to his longtime partner this offseason. They have a 3-year-old and 7-year-old. He said he plans to golf a lot more in his retirement.
“If you would’ve asked me in 2010 if I would have the career I was able to accomplish, there’s 5% of me that would’ve said yes,” Donaldson said. “The other 95% of me would’ve been like, ‘you’re crazy.’”