Chicago Cubs: Revisiting the Josh Donaldson tradeon April 12, 2020 at 11:00 am

However, he dropped off the face of the earth while Donaldson moved to third base, where he blossomed with the Oakland Athletics. He made his debut in 2010, smacking a two-run homer in his second game. In 2011, he spent the entire year playing for the Athletics’ Triple-A outfit but returned in 2012 at the hot corner.

He earned his first All-Star selection in 2014, slashing .255/.342/.456 with 29 home runs and 98 RBI. It was the first of three straight All-Star selections as he was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays after the 2014 season.

In 2015, Donaldson posted stupid numbers – 41 home runs and 123 RBI – and was named the AL MVP. He struggled through dead arm syndrome in the 2018 season but returned with a vengeance last year, signing a one-year $23 million with the Atlanta Braves. Donaldson smacked 37 bombs and drove in 94 runs in 155 games.

Hindsight is 20/20, and a case can be made that the Cubs pass on drafting Kris Bryant if Donaldson had a similar path to third base with the north siders. In all, the trade worked out for both parties but had the potential to be disastrous if Bryant didn’t pan out.