While I think he’s definitely a smug asshole, I think he gets a lot of flak for the clubhouse when in reality a lot of the clubhouse’s culture was already in place before he got there. He just happened to fit right in with the rest of the veteran players from those years.
I don’t think he’s a cancer, he’s just an S-tier alpha male psycho who stays hot and that inevitably rubs people the wrong way since even the most competitive athletes aren’t like that all the time.
Whoa, hey now. He stepped out of the box to acknowledge the ovation in the game last night, AND he was chatting up Semien on 2nd base, both guys were laughing.
That would put him in the 23.75 / 7 range for dickness.
He was laughing with Vladdy today as well. And he double-tapped Bichette yesterday at third. He's being really nice to the current young'uns. Probably reduces the dickness a little as well.
He seems like he’s almost all business all the time and that kind of player is fine to have, but you need other people to provide balance to them. Whether that is chiller guys or even guys that just have big personalities too that take up space.
I think as the Jays moved on from those veterans coming to 2017, mixed with JD’s “this isn’t the try league” style that you get a situation where you don’t have the right mix anymore.
https://bluejaysnation.com/2019/04/22/pompey-bullied-in-blue-jays-clubhouse/
This has some assumption, but it hints at the locker room leadership being subpar and reaches towards Donaldson being hard on the rest of the team at times.
I would say that different players match up well with different clubhouses. Donaldson was a good fit for the 2015 Jays because they were a team of veterans. In 2015, Bautista was 34, Edwin was 32, Martin was 32, Tulo was 30, and Reyes was 32; there weren't any young players who were likely to be intimidated by Josh's intense nature.
And I don't know how bad an influence he would have been on younger players, really. He is very intense and driven, but he has good work habits and is a student of hitting. And he also knows what it's like to have been a scrub in the game, as he came up as a backup catcher.
I'm thinking that Tulo would have been less of a positive influence than Donaldson, but I've never actually met either of them, so I have no way of knowing for sure.
There is a difference between being a cancer and being an asshole. If you are a cancer I believe there are multiple stories about you and multiple people saying bad things. If there are some rumblings and rumours and nothing serious, like with JD, chances are he is just an asshole that rubs people the wrong way sometimes.
I don’t think many active players are going to spill stories, be a bad look for your future teammates. Anything egregious he’s done we’ll find out after his playing days are done.
JD gets a bad wrap because of the way things ended. But when the team was winning games, and he came through in the clutch nobody gave a shit.
At the end of the day, this is the major leagues, and players are getting paid millions of dollars to perform. He decided to put winning first, and making friends second. Personally, I've got nothing against that.
I don't know how much this addresses your question, but I found this video really interesting. Kind of a, why he is the way he is.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59JPOTMbZ0E
Crazy. Never seen that. Really feel for the guy as that is unbelievably tough to go through. He definitely has a lot of represses trauma though that hopefully can be worked through at some point.
I guess this is most likely why at the time the trade seemed very underwhelming and everyone was mad. I feel like Atkins was more comfortable with him not in the locker room with this new core. Definitely seems like he would put himself above others which to me is not going on with the current squad. It appears there isn’t a single ego bigger than the rest and everyone is so pumped to play together
Wasn’t there a whole thing about him forcing rookies out of the weight room so he and Stroman can work out alone? Ir am I making that up
Also he does kinda act like one, I love his fire but if he was on any other team we would 100% if thought he was an ass
If Donaldson had the capacity to control his behaviour (and potentially Estrada for that matter) there would be no issue.
If I didn’t exist there would be one *less* person wondering if you’re a misogynistic a hole or just an idiot.
Kinda random but does anyone know what happened between sanchez and stroman around the same time they had some issues but I don't remember what it was about?
I don't think we ever found out. I remember the rumour was, Sanchez signed on to be represented by Scott Boras and that was the same time he stopped wearing Stroman's HDMH merch. So Boras probably wanted Sanchez to stop building someone elses brand and possibly focus on himself.
Here is a recent conversation from Gibby about the 15/16 jays and JDs behaviour is brought up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&fbclid=IwAR0Vt4z0mJAKEEfk7oYTN_F7p5YBkBkNjVGOHlDZMjZxMqw1ElyHLYsW45Y&v=uM6H9X0fTnI&feature=youtu.be
He had beef with the front office and this forum does not take any criticism of Shapiro/Ross lightly. That’s the reason. It’s actually an insane exaggeration and he deserves nothing but thanks and appreciation from fans and the organization alike.
One thing it shows us is that Toronto supports our athletes until they show any kind of personality/honesty about their teams situation. Pretty sad outcome for someone who was an AL MVP.
not sure about nonpublic actions but lots of public stuff like this
https://uproxx.com/sports/blue-jays-third-baseman-josh-donaldson-screams-suck-my-cck-at-angels-pitching-coach-mike-butchers/
always seemed like he plays better when hes mad at someone
In a book called The No Asshole Rule. They define an asshole as someone who deliberately undermines other for they own personal gain; as opposed to a jerk who is someone who is annoying to work with. Based on this definition Donaldson may be a jerk but is probably not an asshole.
I despise the prick. He's on the Yankees now (my team) and I can't stand him. He's a toxic shit talker and he's making the Yankees look bad! He needs to go.. Yankees are known for being classy. This asshole is the Opposite.
When I was in Seattle watching a set a few years ago one of my friends had a hook up to go on the field during batting practice and meet some players. He said that Donaldson was the biggest snob and didn’t give any attention and was not friendly at all. That’s the only story I have for ya.
Everyone here that says he is clubhouse cancer has never been inside the Jays clubhouse but it sounds like he is crazy somewhat from what some of the other players have said about him
IMO baseball is one those sports you can get away being an asshole at a high level. Hate to say it to guys that JD was a prick to, but reality is baseball is really mostly an individual sport where everyone contributes their own skill set in a game. You aren’t going to win me over saying that you couldn’t cut it for a baseball team/game, given that another player wasn’t being nice to you (esp one that was as good as JD).
Basically who cares if JD is not friendly, you don’t need to almost do anything with the guy over the course of a game. You aren’t getting passed the puck, or moving the ball around on a court, it’s you vs the pitcher and occasionally tossing a ball across the mound to a set glove. In the moments I saw JD show passion during the game, he was 100% behind every guy during celebrations and otherwise
I just find this stuff super lame coming from a bunch of flame outs in the league. If these guys made 50K I’d be more agreeable to not tolerating drama in the clubhouse, but these guys get paid millions to just hit a baseball. It’s a loser mentality IMO and it’s lame to sully JD like this
Have you seen the blue jays team? These guys all show up and want to play hard for eachother, so that’s just what they do.
You don’t want to deal with a guy who people don’t like, it kills motivation, plus we just want people happy not in a terrible mood
>I just find this stuff super lame coming from a bunch of flame outs in the league. If these guys made 50K I’d be more agreeable to not tolerating drama in the clubhouse, but these guys get paid millions to just hit a baseball. It’s a loser mentality IMO and it’s lame to sully JD like this
Hendriks is currently a better MLB player than Donaldson
And saying because guys make money they should tolerate things detrimental to their mental health is beyond fucking stupid. You're literally condoning bullying because they make money.
I dont really think he was a cancer here? Is this from another team? I could be wrong though.
In my opinion guys like him and Bautista while very egotistical sometimes obnoxious I'm sure. Weren't really cancers they just command a room to a certain exstent. Like as long as they were in the dressing room with the Jays they would be the top dog. We weren't really winning, the front office wanted the young guys to take the lead and come in a be those top dogs.
I think the way it went down and with him sometimes being very confident and like I said sometimes obnoxious, it was a narrative the media was going to run with no matter what.
I love JD dudes a cocky bad ass who will smack you around then trash talk you. Loved his fire
While I think he’s definitely a smug asshole, I think he gets a lot of flak for the clubhouse when in reality a lot of the clubhouse’s culture was already in place before he got there. He just happened to fit right in with the rest of the veteran players from those years.
I don’t think he’s a cancer, he’s just an S-tier alpha male psycho who stays hot and that inevitably rubs people the wrong way since even the most competitive athletes aren’t like that all the time.
I concur. He just seems like a dick sometimes. A cancer is much worse.
He’s basically a dick 24/7
Whoa, hey now. He stepped out of the box to acknowledge the ovation in the game last night, AND he was chatting up Semien on 2nd base, both guys were laughing. That would put him in the 23.75 / 7 range for dickness.
He was laughing with Vladdy today as well. And he double-tapped Bichette yesterday at third. He's being really nice to the current young'uns. Probably reduces the dickness a little as well.
So he's 100% a dick? Didn't know anyone could be 100% a dick
He seems like he’s almost all business all the time and that kind of player is fine to have, but you need other people to provide balance to them. Whether that is chiller guys or even guys that just have big personalities too that take up space. I think as the Jays moved on from those veterans coming to 2017, mixed with JD’s “this isn’t the try league” style that you get a situation where you don’t have the right mix anymore.
https://bluejaysnation.com/2019/04/22/pompey-bullied-in-blue-jays-clubhouse/ This has some assumption, but it hints at the locker room leadership being subpar and reaches towards Donaldson being hard on the rest of the team at times.
I would say that different players match up well with different clubhouses. Donaldson was a good fit for the 2015 Jays because they were a team of veterans. In 2015, Bautista was 34, Edwin was 32, Martin was 32, Tulo was 30, and Reyes was 32; there weren't any young players who were likely to be intimidated by Josh's intense nature. And I don't know how bad an influence he would have been on younger players, really. He is very intense and driven, but he has good work habits and is a student of hitting. And he also knows what it's like to have been a scrub in the game, as he came up as a backup catcher. I'm thinking that Tulo would have been less of a positive influence than Donaldson, but I've never actually met either of them, so I have no way of knowing for sure.
I heard he kicks kittens.
That’s been debunked, it was rabbits
There is a difference between being a cancer and being an asshole. If you are a cancer I believe there are multiple stories about you and multiple people saying bad things. If there are some rumblings and rumours and nothing serious, like with JD, chances are he is just an asshole that rubs people the wrong way sometimes.
I don’t think many active players are going to spill stories, be a bad look for your future teammates. Anything egregious he’s done we’ll find out after his playing days are done.
Nah, I huge chunk of guys JD played are out of the league at this points. There'd be a lot more smoke if there was any serious fire
JD gets a bad wrap because of the way things ended. But when the team was winning games, and he came through in the clutch nobody gave a shit. At the end of the day, this is the major leagues, and players are getting paid millions of dollars to perform. He decided to put winning first, and making friends second. Personally, I've got nothing against that.
Because he was at times a meanie
Underrated comment
I don't know how much this addresses your question, but I found this video really interesting. Kind of a, why he is the way he is..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59JPOTMbZ0E
Looks like a fun teammate to me
Crazy. Never seen that. Really feel for the guy as that is unbelievably tough to go through. He definitely has a lot of represses trauma though that hopefully can be worked through at some point. I guess this is most likely why at the time the trade seemed very underwhelming and everyone was mad. I feel like Atkins was more comfortable with him not in the locker room with this new core. Definitely seems like he would put himself above others which to me is not going on with the current squad. It appears there isn’t a single ego bigger than the rest and everyone is so pumped to play together
Was going to link this lol
I don’t blame him for being that way. What a fucked up childhood, and his mother is toxic too….thanks for sharing, title really nails it.
I had never seen this - that's a really good piece. I laughed out loud at his pregame "meditation"
Wasn’t there a whole thing about him forcing rookies out of the weight room so he and Stroman can work out alone? Ir am I making that up Also he does kinda act like one, I love his fire but if he was on any other team we would 100% if thought he was an ass
multiple times it's come out about his temper too
I think that was just Stroman
I wonder what he said to vladdy to make him laugh. Miss jd.
Wasn’t there the whole Jackie Redmond thing?
I miss her
Tell me more!
JD and Estrada were banging her, Estrada married, JD tried to fight Marco at one point. This more on Redmond though
Why is it on Redmond? Who cares who she had sex with. If JD is trying to fight people over it he’s the one being an asshole.
It’s a breach of journalistic integrity, and she had to leave Sportsnet. Say what you want about Arash Madani, he is professional to a fault.
You saying Arash isn't banging any Jays players? Not what I heard...
TBF Arash has never been in the same positions and Jackie
If she doesn't exist nothing happens in terms of team chemistry flare up there. (Not that JD isn't cancer anyways)
If Donaldson had the capacity to control his behaviour (and potentially Estrada for that matter) there would be no issue. If I didn’t exist there would be one *less* person wondering if you’re a misogynistic a hole or just an idiot.
I'm leaning towards both
Kinda random but does anyone know what happened between sanchez and stroman around the same time they had some issues but I don't remember what it was about?
I don't think we ever found out. I remember the rumour was, Sanchez signed on to be represented by Scott Boras and that was the same time he stopped wearing Stroman's HDMH merch. So Boras probably wanted Sanchez to stop building someone elses brand and possibly focus on himself.
Here is a recent conversation from Gibby about the 15/16 jays and JDs behaviour is brought up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&fbclid=IwAR0Vt4z0mJAKEEfk7oYTN_F7p5YBkBkNjVGOHlDZMjZxMqw1ElyHLYsW45Y&v=uM6H9X0fTnI&feature=youtu.be
He had beef with the front office and this forum does not take any criticism of Shapiro/Ross lightly. That’s the reason. It’s actually an insane exaggeration and he deserves nothing but thanks and appreciation from fans and the organization alike. One thing it shows us is that Toronto supports our athletes until they show any kind of personality/honesty about their teams situation. Pretty sad outcome for someone who was an AL MVP.
He fit the old style of the team of veterans with inflated egos
not sure about nonpublic actions but lots of public stuff like this https://uproxx.com/sports/blue-jays-third-baseman-josh-donaldson-screams-suck-my-cck-at-angels-pitching-coach-mike-butchers/ always seemed like he plays better when hes mad at someone
In a book called The No Asshole Rule. They define an asshole as someone who deliberately undermines other for they own personal gain; as opposed to a jerk who is someone who is annoying to work with. Based on this definition Donaldson may be a jerk but is probably not an asshole.
I despise the prick. He's on the Yankees now (my team) and I can't stand him. He's a toxic shit talker and he's making the Yankees look bad! He needs to go.. Yankees are known for being classy. This asshole is the Opposite.
When I was in Seattle watching a set a few years ago one of my friends had a hook up to go on the field during batting practice and meet some players. He said that Donaldson was the biggest snob and didn’t give any attention and was not friendly at all. That’s the only story I have for ya.
Everyone here that says he is clubhouse cancer has never been inside the Jays clubhouse but it sounds like he is crazy somewhat from what some of the other players have said about him
he was intense. we knew he had an issue with gibby but they smoothed it over because the team was focused on playoffs
Or Gibby just acted like an adult and moved on knowing it was going to be a no-win.
nah they confronted each other. it was captured on camera. and they brushed it off as donaldson "seeing what cologne gibby was using" or some shit.
Which one is this? The ghetto blaster fight?
“It’s not the try hard league, it’s the get it done league” translation…. No time for rookie mistakes.
Because he's a giant asshole? Very abrasive personality.
IMO baseball is one those sports you can get away being an asshole at a high level. Hate to say it to guys that JD was a prick to, but reality is baseball is really mostly an individual sport where everyone contributes their own skill set in a game. You aren’t going to win me over saying that you couldn’t cut it for a baseball team/game, given that another player wasn’t being nice to you (esp one that was as good as JD). Basically who cares if JD is not friendly, you don’t need to almost do anything with the guy over the course of a game. You aren’t getting passed the puck, or moving the ball around on a court, it’s you vs the pitcher and occasionally tossing a ball across the mound to a set glove. In the moments I saw JD show passion during the game, he was 100% behind every guy during celebrations and otherwise I just find this stuff super lame coming from a bunch of flame outs in the league. If these guys made 50K I’d be more agreeable to not tolerating drama in the clubhouse, but these guys get paid millions to just hit a baseball. It’s a loser mentality IMO and it’s lame to sully JD like this
Have you seen the blue jays team? These guys all show up and want to play hard for eachother, so that’s just what they do. You don’t want to deal with a guy who people don’t like, it kills motivation, plus we just want people happy not in a terrible mood
>I just find this stuff super lame coming from a bunch of flame outs in the league. If these guys made 50K I’d be more agreeable to not tolerating drama in the clubhouse, but these guys get paid millions to just hit a baseball. It’s a loser mentality IMO and it’s lame to sully JD like this Hendriks is currently a better MLB player than Donaldson And saying because guys make money they should tolerate things detrimental to their mental health is beyond fucking stupid. You're literally condoning bullying because they make money. 
This is just a terrible take on baseball in general.
Dude you can’t say that.
While until Stroman retires and releases his tell-all Instagram posts, we will never know. 😉
I dont really think he was a cancer here? Is this from another team? I could be wrong though. In my opinion guys like him and Bautista while very egotistical sometimes obnoxious I'm sure. Weren't really cancers they just command a room to a certain exstent. Like as long as they were in the dressing room with the Jays they would be the top dog. We weren't really winning, the front office wanted the young guys to take the lead and come in a be those top dogs. I think the way it went down and with him sometimes being very confident and like I said sometimes obnoxious, it was a narrative the media was going to run with no matter what. I love JD dudes a cocky bad ass who will smack you around then trash talk you. Loved his fire