Report: Josh Donaldson signs two-year, $29M deal with Blue Jays

Josh Donaldson and the Toronto Blue Jays have reportedly come to terms on a contract, successfuly avoiding their upcoming salary arbitration hearing. According to Sportsnet's Shi Davidi, the deal is for two years and a total of $29 million.

Donaldson is coming off a 2015 season where he was named American League MVP after hitting 297/.371/.568 with a career-high 41 home runs and 123 RBIs. The 30-year-old third baseman sent out this tweet minutes before the Sportsnet report was published:

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The arbitration hearing between Donaldson and the Blue Jays was set for Feb. 15. Donaldson had filed for a 2016 salary of $11.8 million while Toronto was prepared to pay $11.35 million. Instead, he'll get $29 million over the next two years and won't have to go to arbitration again until 2018. That will be his final year of arbitration before hitting free agency, unless of course he and the Blue Jays work out another long-term deal at that time.

It appears to be a nice bit of business for both sides. Toronto rewards an integral player to their championship puzzle with a fair contract, and Donaldson is afforded a nice sum of guaranteed dollars while not buying out any of his likely lucrative free-agent years. With Donaldson's short-term future now settled, the Blue Jays can turn their attention to the futures of sluggers Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, who are heading into the final year of their contracts.

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Israel Fehr is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at israelfehr@yahoo.ca or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr