Blue Jays avoid arbitration with six players, not Donaldson

Josh Donaldson and the Toronto Blue Jays are heading to arbitration for the second straight year, but are not too far apart in terms of monetary terms. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays have come to an agreement with six others.

The Toronto Blue Jays avoided arbitration with six arbitration eligible players Friday, but Josh Donaldson was not among them.

The Blue Jays offered Donaldson $11.35 million, while he asked for $11.8 million, an industry source told Sportsnet. The exchange of figures sets up a possible arbitration hearing with the reigning MVP for the second consecutive season.

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The Blue Jays did reach one-year deals with Drew Storen, Brett Cecil, Michael Saunders, Drew Hutchison, Aaron Loup and Steve Delabar. Storen ($8.375 million), Cecil ($3.8 million), Hutchison ($2.2 million), Loup ($1.05 million), Saunders ($2.9 million) and Delabar ($835,000) all obtained raises from their 2015 salaries.

Meanwhile, Jesse Chavez exchanged numbers with the Blue Jays, setting up another potential hearing. The right-hander asked for $4 million while the team offered $3.6 million, a source told Sportsnet.

Teams and players had until 1 p.m. ET Friday to exchange figures. As a file and trial team, the Blue Jays do not negotiate one-year deals with players after exchanging figures.

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