Atlanta Braves can’t continue to play waiting game with Josh Donaldson

After a lot of smoke the past week, the Atlanta Braves are still waiting on a decision from free-agent third baseman Josh Donaldson.

It really felt like this was the week Josh Donaldson was finally going to sign, and it seemed pretty clear he would be signing with the Atlanta Braves.

After reports that Atlanta had extended a four-year offer to him, that the Twins had moved on, and that the Nats started signing contingencies plans, we all had good reason to think his signing was imminent.

So why has he still not signed?

We obviously don’t have the exact answer, but my guess is that Donaldson isn’t as anxious as us for this to be over and is holding out to get as much money as he can.

The problem with that is it seems like the Braves are the only team left in the running and they aren’t going to bid against themselves (nor should they) and give him more money just because he wants more if there isn’t another team pushing them.

Maybe Donaldson is hoping that another team will jump into the mix and drive the price up, or maybe he’s just on vacation.

One thing we’ve learned with Alex Anthopoulos as the GM is that his staff doesn’t leak anything. Normally we don’t even know of a signing or a trade until it’s official and the team has sent out a press release.

For all we know the deal could be done and they’re just waiting on a physical to be taken and papers to be signed.