The Jays were probably relieved when Edwin Encarnacion rejected their four-year, $80-million offer last off-season. The rapid decline of Jose Bautista is fresh in their mind as well, reinforcing their analytics. They wouldn’t likely consider a deal of more than four years for Donaldson.
Ownership has placed no specific limitations on Shapiro and Atkins with regard to how much they can pay any individual player, but they have to consider how much they can commit to one franchise player while still fielding a winning roster around him.
Donaldson is making $23 million this season and will likely command as much as $30 million per year in free agency. That may be a deal-breaker for Toronto’s front office.
The other challenge for the Jays in any deal with Donaldson is the inclusion of a no-trade clause. Again, Shapiro and Atkins never say never on anything. They would consider such clauses in certain circumstances, but it is unclear whether a multi-year commitment to a 33-year-old third baseman would be such a circumstance. Big free-agent stars expect no-trade clauses. If they’re going to commit to a club, they want the club to commit to them.
Even if all the stars aligned for Donaldson and the Jays, he would want to know that the franchise would be willing to commit to other free agents in the same way they are with him: money, years, no-trade clauses, etc. Donaldson wants to get paid his true value, but he also wants to win. You’d expect him to look elsewhere if he couldn’t get that commitment.