I don’t know where you were or what you were doing last night when the news broke that Donny Donaldson was traded to the Cleveland franchise, but I was a couple sheets to the wind up at the cottage not paying attention to the shitty baseball game that was being played in Miami (minus Smoak’s pinch-hit grand slam).

I looked at my phone because my MLB AT Bat app gave me the ‘Josh Donaldson has been traded to Cleveland for a player to be named’ update. And…then I went on Twitter to read the kneejerk reactions by fans because they can be pretty entertaining, to be very honest with you.

But holy hell, at the end of the damn baseball day, who could’ve ever predicted this ghoulish outcome, eh? The player to be named nightmare on Blue Jays Way. Howl away motherfuckers. Howl the fuck away.

So, I woke up this morning with a bit of a dumb hangover, and I am a couple coffees into the day and still trying to make sense of this Josh Donaldson disaster. I figured I would type this up before the afternoon drinks start happening.

I really didn’t think this Donaldson trade was actually going to happen. I thought that the front office would QO him, and I figured that all the reports that they weren’t going to do that were bullshit.

Cam and I went back-and-forth about this topic pretty much all week. And Cam was sure it was going to happen. I figured if it did happen, he would be dealt to Cleveland because it made too much sense. But, I didn’t think it was actually going to happen.

Now here’s the thing: there’s no denying that this whole thing is garbage. There’s no denying the absolute worst thing has happened. And there’s no denying that these past couple of seasons have been like a damn John Carpenter movie for this front office and the fans.

Alex Anthopoulos’ 2015 has been a Mark Shapiro migraine from all the Tulo bone spurs to the ongoing Donaldson saga that has finally come to its end. And, I’m sure on top of that, trying to run this team under the corporate Rogers shadow has been one punch to the nose and thumb to the eye for him, as well. But, he knew the job he was taking and I’m sure he knew that running a baseball team owned by a corporation like Rogers wasn’t going to be easy.

Many factors have gone into this bag of garbage that sits in a back alley on Spadina. But, the main offender in all of this is Rogers. Because let’s not forget these famous last words of Shapiro this past offseason:

And that high price that was paid has now become a PR nightmare for the Shapiro regime and the Josh Donaldson trade is the Cleveland cherry on top of this mess. Maybe Shapiro and company are to blame for that. Maybe they should have traded Donaldson last season at the trade deadline. Maybe they should’ve moved him this past offseason. Maybe they should’ve said to the fans, “fuck trying to kick the wild card can because we’re not going to win the World Series anyway.” But, they gave the can a kick and the can cost more trouble than it was worth.

The organization is in a full on rebuild now. And let’s hope that the Vladdy years aren’t going to be lost like the Trout years that are being thrown away in Los Angeles. But, hey Trout is a free agent in 2021, so with all the money Shapiro’s Jays should have by then, maybe they could sign themselves a big free agent like that. And who knows, maybe the Angels will win a World Series before Trout walks, but I doubt it.

Shapiro and Atkins have a puzzle to put together if fans are going to be drunk on Yonge Street celebrating a World Series championship. And they have the Vladdy pieces to work with.

I’m going to go get drunk now because I’m at the cottage and this dumb Josh Donaldson trade for a box of old DVDs isn’t going to ruin my long weekend. But man, it sucks to see it end like this for Donny here in Toronto. He’s one of the most exciting players to set foot on the Rogers carpet. I’m looking forward to watching him rake some October leaves in Cleveland with uncle Eddie.