The Yankees’ trash is another team’s September call-up.
The Brewers promoted former Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson from Triple-A Nashville on Monday, the team announced.
The Yankees released Donaldson, 37, in late August, cutting bait on the aging third baseman after he slumped through two miserable seasons following a trade before the 2022 campaign.
Milwaukee, which is 26th in baseball in OPS (.694), entered Monday 79-63, good for a three-game lead in the NL Central over the Cubs.
The Brewers signed Donaldson to their Triple-A squad a few days after he was released by the Yankees, but the infielder has played just five games in the minors after dealing with a lingering calf injury.
The 2015 AL MVP, who has fought through various injuries all season, hit two homers in 22 at-bats with the minor league Nashville Sounds.
The Brewers need help at the hot corner, as they have mostly handed playing time to rookie Andruw Monasterio, who has three homers and a .705 OPS in 74 games this year.
Donaldson is coming off the two worst campaigns of his career with the Yankees, emerging as a colossal disappointment with a combined .207 batting average and a .678 OPS.
“Basically just felt like it was the right thing to do,” manager Aaron Boone said after the Yankees cut Donaldson. “Give him the option, or the possibility, of even catching on with someone. Just felt like it was the right thing to do that now as opposed to continuing to drag it out.”
Milwaukee, led by its pitching (3.89 team ERA), has maintained a small cushion ahead of the Cubs and Reds for most of the season, but Chicago has come on strong over the last two months.
The Cubs were 18-9 in August, hold the National League’s second wild-card spot, and have a .786 team OPS since the All-Star break, which is seventh in MLB.
