Josh Donaldson Career Earnings: Exploring net worth of retiring former MVP

New York Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson has chosen to hang up his spikes after a remarkable Major League Baseball 11-year span. The 38-year-old announced the end of his career, capping a journey that saw him progress from a late-blooming talent to a seasoned veteran.

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Throughout his career, Donaldson won accolades and earned praise for both his offensive and defensive efforts. He has earned an estimated total of $184,172,500.

Let’s take a look at Donaldson’s complete career earnings divided by year:

Year	Team	Age	Estimated Salary
2010	Oakland Athletics	24	$400,000
2012	Oakland Athletics	26	$480,000
2013	Oakland Athletics	27	$492,500
2014	Oakland Athletics	28	$500,000
2015	Toronto Blue Jays	29	$4,300,000
2016	Toronto Blue Jays	30	$11,650,000
2017	Toronto Blue Jays	31	$17,000,000
2018	Cleveland Indians	32	$23,000,000
2019	Atlanta Braves	33	$23,000,000
2020	Minnesota Twins	34	$21,000,000
2021	Minnesota Twins	35	$21,750,000
2022	New York Yankees	36	$21,000,000
2023	New York Yankees	37	$21,000,000

Josh Donaldson’s career earnings reflect his contributions to multiple teams over the span of 13 years, resulting in a significant amount of money, especially after the 2015 season.

Josh Donaldson announces his retirement.

Donaldson has officially retired from professional baseball at the age of 38. This ends months of speculation about his potential return to the diamond for the 2024 season.

Josh Donaldson has announced his retirement from baseball after an incredible career that saw him earn many accolades, including several All-Star selections and the American League MVP in 2015.

Donaldson’s career is not short of peculiarity. Drafted in 2007 by the Chicago Cubs, he was later traded to the Oakland Athletics, where he made his MLB debut. Despite initial challenges, his breakout season came in 2013, when he finished fourth in the AL MVP voting. His excellence continued, and he eventually won the title in 2015 with the Toronto Blue Jays.

In 2022, Donaldson joined the New York Yankees, but a decline in his earlier skills saw his release in 2023. His final game was played for the Milwaukee Brewers during the team’s defeat against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL Wild Card Series.

Fans are celebrating the influential career of a late-blooming star as Josh Donaldson bids farewell to baseball.

About the author

Pablo Ricalde has been a baseball journalist at Sportskeeda since 2022. A Communication Studies graduate, he attended journalism courses and specialized in copywriting, further adding to his background as a writer.

After 4 years working in the advertising industry and 2 years in sports journalism, Pablo currently works at a Marketing Consulting firm on top of his role at Sportskeeda. He believed in sourcing information only from reliable sources, and refrains from including any opinionated content in his articles.

Pablo was introduced to baseball as a kid by his grandfather, who even coached him in Little League for a year. A massive Boston Red Sox supporter, he ended up becoming a fan in an attempt to be original (as his parents are Yankees fans). Pablo also supports the Diablos Rojos from the Mexican league, his hometown team.

His favorite players of all time are David Ortiz and Derek Jeter, while his current favorites include Fernando Tatis Jr., Ronald Acuna Jr., Alex Verdugo and Randy Arozarena. His favorite moment as a baseball fan was when the Boston Red Sox won the 2018 World Series Championship, as he was too young to remember 2004.

A huge sports fan in general, Pablo's non-baseball interests include football, basketball, American football, and motorsports (F1, IndyCar and Nascar), music and cinema.

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Edited by Pablo Ricalde