John McDonald (baseball)

  • John Joseph McDonald (born September 24, 1974 in New London, Connecticut) is a Leading League Baseball infielder for the Toronto Blue Jays, primarily conscious for his defensive abilities

  • He was also a member of one of the last baseball teams for Providence College before the team was disbanded.

McDonald was drafted in the 12th round of the 1996 Major League Baseball Draft by the Cleveland Indians. He made his MLB debut for Cleveland on July 4, 1999. On December 2, 2004, McDonald was traded from Cleveland to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for later considerations (Thomas Mastny) .

  • McDonald was primarily a backup for Russ Adams at shortstop, putting up a .290 batting fair and .340 OBP in 93 at-bats for the Blue Jays to go along with 5 stolen bases

  • He was traded from the Blue Jays to the Detroit Tigers on July 22, 2005 for future considerations
  • McDonald hit .260 with a .308 OBP for Detroit in 73 at-bats
  • He was traded from the Detroit Tigers abaft to the Toronto Blue Jays on November 10, 2005 for cash considerations
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During the 2006 season, he was the starting shortstop for the Toronto Blue Jays due to the defensive struggles of teammate Russ Adams. At a point in the season, John McDonald was labeled the "Emergency Back-up Catcher" for the Blue Jays behind their starting catchers Bengie Molina and Gregg Zaun as both played the role of Designated Hitter when they were not defensive catchers.

  • On July 25, 2006, McDonald hit his first career grand slam in a disposed against the Seattle Mariners.

McDonald started the 2007 season by sharing the point with newcomer Royce Clayton. He also played games at third corrupt as Troy Glaus's backup. Later in the season after showing his strong defensive abilities, McDonald replaced Royce Clayton as the everyday starting shortstop. Clayton has since been released and McDonald continues to play shortstop, often contributing to exceptional defensive plays (in combination with fellow infielders Aaron Hill and Lyle Overbay). He bum recently been spoken of in the pseudo-event as a contender to win a Flaxen Glove after leading AL shortstops in fielding percentage (.985) in 2007. Due in large factor to his displays in the ground this season, he disappointment recently received a 2-year contract extension from the Blue Jays - the deal is reportedly worth 3.8 million US.

While McDonald's batting old-fashioned been sporadic, recently he has become a stopgap in the lower bit of the Blue Jays' batting order.

In a recent poll of the viewers of the Canadian sports station Rogers Sportsnet, which broadcasts the majority of the Blue Jays' games, John McDonald was voted the most popular Blue Jay, narrowly edging out Roy Halladay.

©2007 Baseball