Yankees’ Josh Donaldson suspended by MLB, hits COVID IL in whirlwind

Two days after Josh Donaldson’s racially-tinged remarks towards White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson lit a fire in New York (and under Chicago), the Yankees star has found himself suspended by the league and too ill to participate in the game of baseball.

Donaldson self-reported COVID symptoms to Yankees manager Aaron Boone early in the day on Monday after skipping the nightcap of Sunday’s doubleheader, and was preemptively placed on the 10-Day IL. He joined Joey Gallo and Kyle Higashioka on said list, though none of the three players has returned a positive PCR test, as of the publication of this article.

It’s also important to note that the Yankees traveled en masse to Toronto several weeks ago, meaning the entire 26-man roster (at this moment) is fully vaccinated.

A few minutes after Donaldson’s previously-unexplained absence in Monday’s lineup was formally announced, MLB doubled down on removing him from this week’s action.

Whenever Donaldson is ready to return, he will face a one-game suspension for his comments on Saturday, which he confirmed in the postgame scrum that he had made. In a statement, MLB deemed his comments “disrespectful and in poor judgment,” and decided that because they provoked a benches-clearing incident, they were worthy of further punishment.

Donaldson has chosen to appeal.

Yankees 3B Josh Donaldson suspended by MLB, also on COVID IL

On Sunday, manager Aaron Boone toed the line perfectly by saying he believed Donaldson went too far in his trash talk, but had been forthright in all conversations in the wake of the incident.

It’s not shocking MLB ultimately landed in favor of a suspension, though a one-game ban that will get kicked down the line until the incident is eventually muted in the public’s mind doesn’t feel like much of a judgment at all.

The Yankees and White Sox will not play again for the remainder of the regular season. Donaldson will not play again until he shakes COVID, then will not play again once the suspension is enforced.

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