On Sunday afternoon, former Auburn baseball player Josh Donaldson was traded from the Minnesota Twins to the New York Yankees.
In a blockbuster deal, the Yankees grabbed the three-time All-Star in exchange for Gio Urshela and Gary Sanchez. Donaldson has played for several teams over the years. His career began in 2010 with the Oakland Athletics. He spent four years with the A’s organization.
Shortly after, he was dealt to the Toronto Blue Jays in 2014 where he would spend the next four years. In 2015, he won the AL MVP award with the Blue Jays. In the past four years, he has played for the Cleveland Indians (2018), Atlanta Braves (2019), and the Minnesota Twins (2020-2021).
Throughout his college career on the Plains, Donaldson played both catcher and third base. In his freshman season, he played in 39 games at third base. He would hit seven home runs with 26 runs batted in. His average was .294. In 2006, his sophomore season, he hit 10 home runs with 42 runs batted in. The success increased during his junior season where he would go on to hit 11 home runs with 54 runs batted in. Another interesting fact to note is his .349 batting average. I guess you could say that Donaldson has seen success at both the collegiate and professional levels.
His time at Auburn helped him become the slugger that the world now sees. Over the span of his career, he has launched 251 home runs. That means that over the span of his eleven-year career, he has averaged 22.8 home runs per season.
You could definitely say that Donaldson is one of the more premier talents to have ever played at Auburn. He is one of many Tigers that have played in the MLB. Other players like Tim Hudson, David Ross, and Frank Thomas are also former Tigers that saw their own success at the professional level.
Auburn fans certainly hope that Donaldson’s success translates to the Yankees. He has definitely made the Auburn faithful very proud.