Jackie Donaldson is having a year like no other

First, congrats to Mr. Giancarlo Stanton, whose two blasts yesterday move him into 5th place on the Yankees 2023 season HR Leader Board, with 9. 

He's on course to belt 18 this year - two above his seasonal average since 2019. (Over the last five years, Gio has 82!) 

Still, as symbolic unicorns of death go, it won't be easy for Stanton to catch the statistical trotting corpse known as Josh "Jackie" Donaldson, who is cobbling together a season for the ages. The Dark Ages, that is.

I cannot fathom how the Yankee front office and its algorithms manage to put a value on Donaldson, the 2023 poster boy for offensive incontinence. At certain junctures of the season - such as the All Star break - it's important to stand back and admire what we've witnessed. 

Fun Facts...

1. On the season, Donaldson has 10 HRs out of 14 hits, with a BA of .146. He has one double. The other three were singles. 

2. Eight of Donaldson's 10 HRs came with nobody on base. For the season, he has 15 RBIs, tied for 13th on the team, with Jose Trevino.

3. In his 96 ABs, Donaldson has fanned 30 times, about one every three appearances.  He has drawn 10 walks, with an OBP of .222. That's lowest on the team except for Franchy Cordero, who has reached base at a staggeringly rancid rate of .186. The Yankees just promoted Cordero to fill an injury hole. 

4. Donaldson currently sits 13 points below the hot seat occupied last summer by Joey Gallo - a BA of .159 - before the Death Barge traded him to the Dodgers. After starting hot there, suggesting his problems were related to the traffic snarls and pizza-eating rats of NYC, Juggalo Joey hit .162 for the Dodgers. This spring, he began hot with Minnesota, suggesting his problems had been relating to the formerly allowed defensive over-shifts. Well, Gallo is now hitting .189 for the Twinkies. 

Last summer, in the Gallo deal, the Yankees coaxed pitching prospect Clayton Beeter from LA. He'll appear in next week's Futures Game, the lone positive from a string of disasters. 

Unfortunately, Donaldson will attract few, if any, suitors. Most likely, the Yankees will have to DFA him and take a bath, publicly, by paying his salary for a rival. This, Brian Cashman is loathe to do. Thus, the Yankees stand in the corner where they've painted themselves, waiting for the shellac to dry.  

Damn. This gets tedious - the same story, week after week, year after year. Believe me, it's no fun, writing shit about the Yankees. But entering 2023, everyone with eyeballs foresaw major holes at 3B and LF, and the team vowed to do something. 

Hal Steinbrenner  had just spent gobs of money on Aaron Judge and Carlos Rodon, and you sensed that he was THIS CLOSE to shelling out for a free agent that might solve at least part of the problems. Then Hal abruptly zipped up his fanny pack and assumed the fetal position. The front office chased some Willie Calhouns and Jake Bauers - and while I mean them no disrespect - that doofus plan, from Day One, was a mortal self-wound. 

The Yankees are on course to miss the post-season for the first time since 2016, when they unveiled the Baby Bombers, a talent surge of youngsters who were going to launch a new Yankee era. We have no hidden arsenal rising through the ranks. We just have Donaldson and Stanton. Congrats to both on their homers yesterday.