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Trade Tree Thursday: Examining how the Blue Jays got MVP-winning Josh Donaldson
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Photo credit: © Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Cynthia Ryley Delaney
Oct 15, 2026, 14:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 15, 2026, 14:35 EDT
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Alex Anthopoulos left the Toronto Blue Jays on a high.
Serving as the Blue Jays’ general manager from 2009 until 2015, he’s best known for orchestrating the Jays’ memorable run to the 2015 American League Championship Series. Realistically, that overshadows the first five seasons of his tenure, but one thing you can’t say is Anthopoulos didn’t attempt to make the team better during his tenure.
Towards the end, the Canadian executive made plenty of strong moves to put the team in the position to go to back-to-back ALCS, but his best move by far was the Josh Donaldson trade tree.
This trade tree started before Anthopoulos joined the Blue Jays. With their third-round pick in the 2003 MLB Draft, the Blue Jays selected right-handed pitcher Shaun Marcum out of Missouri State. Two years later, he made his MLB debut, then spent parts of five seasons in the big leagues with the Jays, posting a 3.85 ERA and 4.46 FIP in 592 innings of work.
Marcum’s best season was his final year with the team, 2010. Over 195.1 innings of work, the righty made 31 starts, authoring a 3.64 ERA and 3.74 FIP, giving him a career-best 3.5 fWAR. That off-season, Anthopoulos traded him to the Milwaukee Brewers, acquiring Canadian Brett Lawrie.
The Langley, British Columbia product was drafted 16th overall in 2008, but made his debut with the Jays in 2011. Despite playing just 43 games, it turned out to be the third baseman’s best season in terms of fWAR, slashing .293/.373/.580 with nine home runs in 171 plate appearances, giving him a 2.6 fWAR.
He was still productive the following three seasons, slashing .261/.316/.406 with 34 home runs in 1,260 plate appearances, good for a 98 wRC+. He never reached 2.6 fWAR in a season, which was a bit disappointing as he played over 100 games in 2012 and 2013, but he never had a fWAR below 1.6 with the Blue Jays.
That said, Lawrie never reached the promise he showed in his draft position or his 2011 season, and during the 2014-15 off-season, Anthopoulos pulled the trigger to capitalize on his value. On November 28th, 2014, the Jays sent Lawrie, Sean Nolin, Kendall Graveman, and prospect Franklin Barreto to the Oakland Athletics for Donaldson.
Lawrie played two more seasons in big leagues, with his MLB career coming to an end following the 2016 season. Barreto was the big piece going back, as he was one of the Blue Jays’ best prospects at the time. Unfortunately, his career never panned out. 
Nolin was also a prospect who appeared in a game each with the Jays in 2013 and 2014, but he only appeared in 19 big league games. Interestingly, he made six starts with the Athletics in 2015 and didn’t appear in another big league game until 2021.
Of the four players the Jays traded for Donaldson, Graveman went on to find the most success. In 669.2 innings over parts of 10 seasons, the righty owned a 4.03 ERA and 4.38 FIP in 299 outings. He was dominant in 2021, finishing the season with a 1.77 ERA and 3.19 FIP, with two more solid seasons in the next two seasons.
But none of the assets given up mattered, because Donaldson was special with the Jays. There have been two players named as the American League MVP while playing with the Jays, George Bell in 1987 and Donaldson in 2015. 
In 158 games, the third baseman slashed .297/.371/.568 with 41 home runs in 711 plate appearances, good for a 154 wRC+ and 8.7 fWAR. His success, paired with great seasons from José Bautista and Edwin Encarnación, helped the Blue Jays reach the postseason for the first time since they won the World Series in 1993.
The 2016 run was far less memorable, which makes sense as the team felt far less special than the 2015 team. Still, Donaldson had an impressive season, slashing .284/.404/.549 with 37 home runs in 700 plate appearances, good for a 6.8 wRC+. Like the year before, the Jays fell in the ALCS, this time to the Cleveland Guardians.
Donaldson’s final full season as a Blue Jay came in 2017. Again, it was a fantastic season for the third baseman, slashing .270/.385/.559 with 33 home runs in 496 plate appearances, good for a 151 wRC+ and 4.9 fWAR. Unfortunately, the Jays missed the postseason that year, ending this core’s chances at bringing the World Series back to Canada.
It also effectively ended Donaldson’s tenure with the team. The Jays had a strong start to the 2018 season, mostly due to a weak schedule, but the writing was on the wall for a rebuild, and Donaldson was their best asset as a soon-to-be free agent. Donaldson played just 36 games with the Jays that year before an injury derailed his season.
Because of how the trade deadline was set up, the Jays were able to get something for the third baseman, shipping him off the Guardians for a player to be named later on August 31st, 2018. That player to be named later turned out to be Julian Merryweather.
Donaldson remained productive from 2019 until 2021, but his play hit a wall in his final couple of seasons, and he retired shortly before the start of the 2024 season.
Merryweather’s Blue Jays tenure was mired by injuries. The flamethrowing righty made his big league debut in 2020, appearing in eight games where he posted a 4.15 ERA and 2.27 FIP. Beginning the 2021 season at their closer of sorts, the righty looked great through his first four games, allowing just one hit over four and one-third innings with a 50 K% and 7.1 BB%. 
But as was the case throughout his career, Merryweather suffered an injury and didn’t pitch again until September. Merryweather wasn’t the same pitcher upon his return, ending the 2021 season with a 4.85 ERA and 6.47 FIP in 13 innings of work. His 2022 didn’t go any better, finishing with a 6.75 ERA and 4.35 FIP in 26.2 innings of work.
In the 2022-23 off-season, the Jays designated Merryweather for assignment, with the righty electing free agency and signing with the Chicago Cubs. He had a strong season while remaining healthy in 2023, but appeared in 15 big league games in 2024 and 21 games in 2025. Last season, Merryweather appeared in 25 minor league games in the Twins’ organization.
Thanks to Merryweather being DFA’d, the Marcum trade tree came to an end that off-season. Realistically, the Donaldson trade should’ve ended far better than it did, especially since the Blue Jays reportedly had an offer from the St. Louis Cardinals that included Jack Flaherty.
What ended up being Anthopoulos’ best trade tree also happens to be one of the worst blunders by Ross Atkins. It’s a good example of why a team should almost always trade prospects if there is an upgrade available.
Cynthia Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, DFOEdmonton, and DFOCalgary. She can be followed on Twitter @CynthiaRDelaney.
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