The dynamics of the trade that sent Josh Donaldson from the Toronto Blue Jays to the Cleveland Indians has ruffled more than a few feathers amongst opposing teams, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.

The superstar third baseman has yet to feature in Cleveland’s lineup despite being acquired over a week ago, bringing his true health status when the deal was formalized into question among league executives. Contenders in the American League are reported to be the ones mainly in opposition, with the Boston Red Sox at the front at the front of the line.

In order to be eligible for the post-season, Donaldson had to be traded by Aug. 31, and that date was also the deadline by which the Blue Jays could redeem any kind of meaningful value for the player.

After spending the better part of three months without a Major League appearance, Donaldson began a minor-league rehab assignment on Aug. 29, which coincides with the big-league requirement that both the team and the commissioner’s office certify a player’s health when placed on revocable trade waivers.

Once the former AL MVP was traded by the Blue Jays on Aug. 31, Cleveland made the required move of adding him to the active roster, but then placed him on the disabled list to begin another rehab assignment on Sept. 3 to spark the outrage.

“I guess he got re-injured on the plane,” one rival executive said, sarcastically.



Another executive said the Indians skirted a rule requiring a player who suffers a recurrence of an injury on a rehabilitation assignment to remain inactive for five days before starting another one. But due to a technicality — Donaldson’s activation between his trips to the DL — the Indians did not need to wait five days.



The rapid turnaround was not the main issue for most teams, merely the last curious act of a murky, confusing sequence of events.



Ken Rosenthal – The Athletic

Donaldson hit a grand slam in a minor-league appearance for the Columbus Clippers on Sept. 3 and is now expected to be activated from the DL on Tuesday.

If the 32-year-old can find the form at the big-league level that helped the Blue Jays to back-to-back ALCS appearances as recently as 2015 and 2016, Cleveland will have acquired a real difference-maker for the post-season, and a real thorn in the side of those AL contenders so upset by this trade.