What does the future hold for Jason Donald?

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Donald had a breakout season this year, mashing at both Low A and High A after being thought of mainly as a utility infielder in the future. The question for today is, where do you see Jason Donald in 2 or 3 seasons? Is he playing shortstop in AAA? Has he moved to 2B or 3B? Has he been traded because the Phillies don’t see a spot for him? Also, what type of major league player do you expect him to be? An average shortstop offensively? Above average? A spare part infielder?

Have your say in the comments.

18 thoughts on “What does the future hold for Jason Donald?”

  1. Given how he did better after he was promoted, I would be tempted to double jump him to AAA, but they might be better served just sending him to Reading, and then moving him up to Allentown if he jumps out of the gate.

    I’m not really sure how he projects on the MLB level (I’m going purely on things I’ve read, and my very amateurish ability to decipher stats), but I’d try to work him out at 3b some, and then have him be the team’s utility infielder in 2009 – a decent hitting, average fielding backup that gets +/- 200 at bats during the year

    – Jeff

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  2. I’m not sure where he fits on the big Phillies. Rollins is in his prime and barring injury owns the SS job for a while. The Phillies have had one significant Carribean signing each of the past two seasons and both have been SS. Galvis was already at Lakewood this year, with super glove and surprisingly ok bat for a guy who had no business in that league. I think one of the two Latinos is Rollins successor.

    Utley owns 2B, but could move to 1B or LF in the future. I see Cardenas as Utley’s successor. He has the best bat in the minors and enough arm and glove for 2B, but can’t move to SS or 3B.

    Donald could move to 3B, but doesn’t have the power you look for at that position. I think it depends on how Costanzo continues to develop. 3B is his to lose. He has severe problems against LHP, so he may need to share 3B. That creates an opening for Donald.

    Donald has been a lot better than expected with the bat this past season, but I think he still projects as a utility IF for the big Phillies.

    He should start in Reading in 2008. This year was really the first season he stood out with the bat and his D is reputedly steady and good, rather than spectacular in range or arm. There is really no need to rush him. All the positions he could play, except 3B, are blocked and Costanzo has the edge at 3B. Look for him to do Reading and possibly Allentown in 2008 and be the Phillies main UT IF sometime in 2009. Given that, he should get some reps at positions other than SS in 2008. I’d like to see him play 3B, which is another reason to be at Reading, since Costanzo should be given virtually all the 3B playing time in Allentown.

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  4. I think for the time being, he should be promoted to Reading for several reasons. First, he’s a bit of a surprise, so we need to see if the hitting is for real – if, by next June, he’s hitting around .300 with strong secondary numbers, we can consider another promotion. Second, the major league team is loaded to the gills with hitters (what a good problem to have!) so it makes sense to give minor leaguers time to develop and find their correct position. Third, if he does have enough arm for third (I understand that’s a question mark), we may want to try him there and, for now at least, Costanzo will be manning that position in Allentown. The organization would need him in Reading to prevent a log jam.

    As for his future, if I’m the Phillies, he can play shortstop for now, but if he’s a real stud, a move really must occur. For the next five years, second and short are blocked in the bigs.

    I’d love to project him as a hitter at this point, but that’s hard to do with an experienced college player who has never been above high A ball. If I had the opportunity to watch him play for a week or two, I could give a much better prediction, but, that having been said, I see his upside as a player like Dickie Thon, Marcus Giles (a few years ago) or Mark Grudzilanek. In a dream scenario he becomes a poor man’s Ryne Sandberg (the same could be said about 20 minor leaguers at any given time). I see him as a good player, with a relatively high average, good plate discipline and solid line drive power. As the Yankees of the late 1990s proved, you can score a lot of runs with a group of players like that.

    I can also see Donald being part of a trade. I am okay with that so long as the trade is not for another second tier pitcher – those types of trades are almost always losing propositions. Get me a real ace or some young pitching and it would be alright if Donald were sent in return.

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  5. I have trouble seeing Donald ever playing a big role with the Phillies, unless he’s shifted to third base and masters the position. Utley and Rollins aren’t going anywhere for awhile, and the organization has two middle-infield prospects whom I think have higher ceilings in Cardenas and Harman. That leaves a position shift or a trade, with a trade seeming more likely and maybe a better use of resources.

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  7. I vote for above-average offensive SS, though I don’t see him ever reaching Rollins’ league. Maybe something like the 2007 edition of Michael Young.

    I don’t know where he fits either. If I had to guess, I’d say trade bait. But that’s something to worry about later, not now. A lot can happen between now and 2010, or whenever it is that Donald becomes big league ready. For now, the goal is just to make sure he develops into the best player he can be. If he’ll be more valuable as a SS than a 3B, then I say keep him at short and worry about the consequences when the time comes.

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  8. I like the idea of trying him at 3B in Reading in the coming year to see if it works. It’s not the end of the world if he doesn’t take to the position switch (Utley didn’t transition to third base and that’s turned out alright), but you’ll ideally want his bat to help the big league club, and as those above have mentioned, he’s unlikely to do that at SS. If he bombs out at the hot corner the fine, you move him back to SS and deal with the consequences later (probably ultimately by trading him, but you never know). But with Rollins blocking him and other guys like Galvis in the system, it might be best to try him at a position of need; as good of a second half as Costanzo had, I’d be frightened if the Phillies are writing him in in ink for a spot in the starting lineup in 2009.

    Where do I realistically see him in two or three years? Traded, after the Phillies fail to shift him from SS. I just hope that I’m being pessimistic and that’s not the case (unless of course, as H Man mentioned above, he’s used to fetch something good in return).

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  9. Since Costanzo is still a LARGE question mark, Donald needs to play 3rd at Reading to see if he can handle (throw) thye position. As a righty who’d play full time at the position, he seems to be capable of 20 dingers/season…or,who knhows. more in time.

    There exists unfortunately great questions as to whether Costanzo can FIELD the position well…since his errors still exceed what is acceptable. And this question pairs w his noted ability to strike out beyond belief. He needs to put his bat on the ball more frequently, which he may improve on at AAA.

    Meantime Donald may well do well at Reading playing 3rd. Remember that Donald has hits more than a few HRs at Lakewood and Clwtr…which could improve in a smaller park (as in CBP) at Reading.

    With the Costanzo problems, Donald needs to spend time at Reading at 3rd base and up to his move to AAA where he could play SS with “Costy” at his side, thereby gaining at least hitting exsperience at the AAA level.

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  10. If he has the ability to play SS in the major leagues he needs to stay there. If he continues to hit then he would be an option for a utility IF or solid trade bait. Positional depth tends to work itself out, though it would be nice for this organization to show an ability to trade for prospects at a position of need.

    As for Donald’s ceiling, I don’t think he’ll ever have the offense you want at third. That is another argument to leave him at SS.

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  11. I see the best comparison for Donald is Mark Derosa- he’s a big strong kid, strong arm, and offensively probably pretty similar. The problem is like Derosa, it may take 5 years for him to be a productive starter- but Derosa did have good value as a bench player.

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  12. Move Donald to third next year. If Donald makes it to Philly in a few years, they can afford a few homers less than the norm from a 3B because of the rest of their infield. Constanza seems like trade bait to an AL team – seems more like a future DH or OF than a 3B (unless he gets moved to LF and stays in the organization).

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  13. I’m with Jim – let’s have an open competition at third between Costanzo and Donald, each at their respective minor league level. I, too, suspect that Costanzo (too bad his first name isn’t George, huh?) will end up as a corner outfielder as well.

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  14. Costanzo da Manzo is a decent 3B, but you have to remember that he has already transitioned from pitching to playing 3rd all the time. I think he could wind up being a decent ball player as he continues to progress and get comfortable at each level. Based on his numbers each season you can tell that he tends to pick it up as the season progresses (as he gets comfortable). Give him time… I’ve seen too many people write off da Manzo without giving him a real shot.

    As for JD, I believe the Phils should start him at Reading next year playing SS the majority of the time, but giving him a few games at 3rd and see what happens. Regardless of where they play him, the kid can rake, he just needs to face some better pitching and sharpen his skills a bit and the Phils will have to deal with him.

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  15. Here’s the breakdown. I have seen both play several times. They are two types of players. Why can’t we continue to develop Costanzo at 3B, Donald at Shortstop, and Cardenas at 2nd base. A nice solid infield.

    Donald Costanzo
    AB- 490 508
    H- 149 137
    AVG.304 .270
    HR-12 27
    RBI-71 86
    R-89 92
    K-109 157
    OBP-.895 .368
    OPS-.869 .858
    ERRORS-25 34

    They are two different types of players. Donald is more of a line drive gap hitter, and he has perfect numbers for a middle infielder. Costanzo is a power/linedrive hitter, how can you deny his raw power 27 HR along with 92 RBI…
    Costanzo has completed AA ball at Reading which is a bigger jump then most think from High-A ball. Let’s keep these players in their current positions, and see how Donald handle AA ball first. Costanzo most likely will move up to AAA-Allentown. Also…Let’s not forget that Donald has had his problems fielding at SS with 25 errors…third base is not an easier position to play then Short.
    Let them develop….and let’s keep them all and have a good pharm system again.

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  16. The main principle here is that you should always always train prospects to play the hardest positions they can reasonably be expected to play, no matter what. If you need to move them to a different position later, fine, but you wait until the last possible moment to do so because you don’t know what tomorrow holds. Nobody in 2000 expected 3B to be the biggest need in the Phillies starting eight over the next decade, but that’s how it’s turned out. You just never know.

    Now, it *could* turn out to be the case that Costanzo won’t be able to play 3B in the majors. And it’s *probable* that their won’t be an opening for Donald at short anytime soon. But if you need to move Costanzo to the OF or Donald to 3B down the road, you can do it down the road. Nearly any trained SS can play 3B. While there are certainly some nuances to playing third (slightly longer throws, more reaction plays), I think it’s a fair general statement to say that 3B is a significantly easier position. That’s why many shortstops (Cal Ripken, A-Rod, for example) have been able to make the transition during the course of a single spring training session. And there are countless guys who have made the IF-to-OF transition over a single offseason – sometimes even during the season itself. Corner OF is arguably the easiest position on the entire field.

    There is no rational reason to jump the gun here. I think that impulse comes more from our tendency as fans to want to play Fantasy GM and pencil in imaginary 2010 lineup cards than from anything on the field. It would gain us nothing, at the expense of preemptively diminishing our prospects’ skillsets and value, based on expectations that we can’t be sure will materialize.

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  17. He’s a bit of an off the wall thought…in the event that Costanzo doestn’t work out, what are the chances of moving Rollins to 3B to make room for Donald or one of the latin prospects at SS?

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