As the red-hot Blue Jays race skyward through the AL standings, with a hold on the first wild-card and now unexpectedly into the cauldron of the AL East race, they clearly are in the heads of the New York Yankees.

One question springs to mind — can a case be made for the Jays’ Josh Donaldson as AL MVP? And yes, there are eight weeks remaining in the season, but you can start the discussion.

Where to begin? Consider that in two of three games at Yankee Stadium this past weekend, Donaldson homered in the first inning. Over the 12 games of the team’s current 11-1 stretch, the 29-year-old third baseman is 18 for 47 with an average of .383, with five doubles, seven home runs, 15 RBIs, 12 runs scored and a 1.408 OPS. His sublime defence at third base is a complement to shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, giving the Jays one of the best left-sides of any American League infield.

Harken back to July 23 — a week before Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos pulled the trigger on the trades that added five important new faces to the roster — and the Jays are 13-5. In that stretch, Donaldson has not gone more than two starts without hitting a home run. In those 18 games, he has nine homers and 19 RBIs.

Of Donaldson’s 31 homers — a career high — 17 have given the Jays the lead and three others have tied the score. That’s clutch. In Toronto victories, he is hitting .384 with 21 homers and 58 RBIs.

YOUR CALL!

His value has not just been when they are winning regularly. Over a stretch of six games from May 25-31, Donaldson hit six home runs, five in huge situations, and not all were wins. The Jays were struggling under .500 but his contributions kept them above water. On May 26 against the White Sox, he homered off John Danks in the first and David Robertson in the ninth, both blasts giving the Jays the lead. The next day he homered off Robertson in the ninth to tie the game; the Jays lost in 10.

Two days later in Minnesota, Mark Buehrle gave up four runs in the first and Donaldson smashed a tying three-run homer in the fifth as the Jays went on to win. Two days later, in that series finale, he stroked a solo homer in the seventh to give the Jays a lead but they ended up losing. It was just two days after that the Jays began their 11-game winning streak that led them back above .500. The club would have been buried if not for earlier Donaldson heroics. He hit .333 in the 11-game streak.

But the biggest obstacle to Donaldson’s MVP candidacy plays on the West Coast, and his name is Mike Trout.

The Angels outfielder, undeniably the best player in the league based purely on skill, won the 2015 all-star game MVP and leads AL position players with a 6.9 WAR (Baseball Reference). Donaldson earned the most all-star fan votes and ranks second with a 6.2 WAR.

Comparing Trout with the same numbers we cited for Donaldson, of his 33 homers 16 have given the Angels the lead and three others have tied the score. In Halos victories, he is hitting .343 with 21 homers and 47 RBIs. With runners in scoring position, Trout is hitting .364, with an OPS of 1.259.

Now come the intangibles of Donaldson’s MVP candidacy, and I realize this is the part of the MVP argument that will drive stat worshippers crazy. But baseball is more than numbers.

It’s true the Jays would not be where they are as the first wild-card, 1½ games back of the Yankees, since the trade deadline without the acquisitions of Troy Tulowitzki, David Price, Ben Revere, LaTroy Hawkins and Mark Lowe. It can also be reasonably argued the Anthopoulos would not have been allowed to make any of those moves if the Jays had been buried 10 games below .500.

Right from opening day, the man that arguably changed the culture of the clubhouse and instilled an attitude of winning was Donaldson. Manager John Gibbons was there before, and they lost. Jose Bautista was there, and they lost. But the addition of Donaldson and Russell Martin added to the presence of Bautista and Buehrle and helped keep the team afloat when they were foundering.

If the Jays had been 45-55 returning from Seattle instead of 50-50 as they were, it’s clear the deal for Tulowitzki would not have been made and the Jays would likely have been sellers. Instead, thanks to the addition of Donaldson along with Martin and incumbent leadership, the wild-card positions seemed there for the taking. This, even though the division seemed out of reach with Yankee bats booming and winning consistently. All that has has now changed.

Fact is, none of the same intangibles attached to Donaldson apply to Trout. He’s been in Anaheim for five years and, over the past three, has finished second in MVP voting twice before winning it last season. As for his team, it’s always been competitive. Not so for the Jays.

So how valuable has Donaldson been for the Blue Jays and their fans? Years ago, president Paul Beeston made the ill-advised remark at the winter meetings that as soon as Jays fans started showing more support the team would spend money on added payroll.

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What Donaldson, Martin, Bautista, Tulowitzki and Price are showing is that if you believe in your product and spend money to be competitive, the moves will pay for themselves — especially if you are a broadcast and communications giant selling multi-platforms of your own product.

Undoubtedly, potential AL MVP Donaldson has altered the culture of these Toronto Blue Jays.

So too, has he possibly changed the ownership culture as they watch money fill their coffers from ticket sales, merchandise and TV ratings.

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