Brewers Rumors: Crew Reportedly Interested in Former Yankees 3B Josh Donaldson

The trade deadline may be long passed, but rumors of acquisitions are starting to fly around again. That's because the deadline to add players to the roster and also have them be eligible for postseason rosters is just about here.

Teams can't trade for other players, but there are other ways to still acquire guys this time of year. One is by claiming players off waivers, such as one of the several players put there by the Los Angeles Angels this week. The other way is signing a free agent.

One player who is currently out on the free agent market is former Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson. He was released by New York earlier this week and is available for any team to sign right now.

The Milwaukee Brewers are reportedly interested in signing former Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson.

Earlier this afternoon, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that the Brewers were considering signing Donaldson to a contract. It would be a low cost signing as they would only owe a small portion of a veteran minimum salary.

Donaldson was traded from the Twins to the Yankees prior to the 2022 season. His time in New York did not go particularly well as he hit just .207 with a .678 OPS. This season, he played in just 33 games after spending much of the season on the IL and hit a lowly .142 with a .659 OPS, though he did manage to still hit double digits in home runs with 10.

Prior to arriving in New York, however, Donaldson had a history of strong production. He had an OPS of at least .798 in every single season before 2022, has a career .262/.359/.491 slash line, has seven seasons of at least 24+ home runs, and was the AL MVP in 2015.

And it's not as though the Brewers can't use help at third base. As Rosenthal notes, rookie Andruw Monasterio has regressed offensively in August and is a below average defender. Brian Anderson is better on defense, but has been cold at the plate for even longer and hasn't received much playing time lately.

That said, Donaldson is 37 years old, is in the middle of his second straight bad offensive season in a row, and is fighting injuries. As a team that has already been offensively challenged at times, adding another player with poor production at the plate could be counterintuitive.

The deadline to add players to the roster and have them be postseason eligible is fast approaching so we will likely know whether the Brewers pull the trigger on this move or not very soon. Though the potential firepower is enticing, it might be a better idea to just stay put here.