Yankees' Josh Donaldson addresses boos from home fans

Third baseman Josh Donaldson has become the latest member of the New York Yankees to address the boos he and his teammates heard during home games in 2022. 

"At the end of the day, I’m not in control of other people and what they do," Donaldson told Brendan Kuty of The Athletic. "For me, I have to focus on, how can I help this team win? How can I best prepare myself? I can’t control those things (the booing). I can’t focus on that. If I focus on that, then I’m going to get wrapped up in something that I don’t want to get wrapped up in. I’m here to help our team win in whatever manner that is." 

Donaldson originally joined the Yankees via a trade from the Minnesota Twins last March, and the deal went poorly for the 37-year-old and the Bronx Bombers in 2022. He hit just .222 with 15 home runs and 62 RBI across 132 regular-season games, and he then struck out 16 times in 29 at-bats during a postseason run that ended with a four-game sweep at the hands of the Houston Astros in the American League Championship Series. 

Along with Donaldson, outfielder Aaron Hicks, reigning AL Most Valuable Player Aaron Judge and former New York outfielder Joey Gallo were among the many targets of jeers from home fans during games played at Yankee Stadium last year. It was even said in October that a "toxic" fan culture and an alleged "souring relationship between the Yankees and their fans" could impact Judge's free-agency decision. 

Judge recently made it known he "had no problem with getting booed" considering the way the Yankees limped out of the playoffs. As for Donaldson, he's not letting the fact that he's owed $27M on the last guaranteed year of his contract impact his preparations for the upcoming season. 

"I don’t know necessarily if I feel pressure from that," he said. "But I do have my own expectations. I have high expectations of myself and how to perform, and I would say the reason as far as pressure is concerned, if I didn’t feel like I was prepared coming into it, then I would feel pressure. But I feel like I’ve been preparing myself physically and mentally for what’s to come at that time, whatever happens is going to happen." 

As recently as last week, individuals such as Josh Benjamin of Elite Sports NY predicted that Donaldson will likely get "traded at the deadline for minor league depth" via a transaction that could involve the Yankees "covering most if not all of his remaining salary."