Josh Donaldson has a landing spot in a pennant race.
The Brewers announced Thursday they are bringing in the 37-year-old third baseman on a minor league contract.
He is reporting to Triple-A Nashville.
Donaldson was released by the Yankees this week after being an anemic hitter the last two seasons.
This year, Donaldson batted .142 with 10 home runs and a .659 OPS for the Bombers.
“Basically just felt like it was the right thing to do,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters after the roster move was announced.
“Give him the option, or the possibility, of even catching on with someone. Just felt like it was the right thing to do that now as opposed to continuing to drag it out.”
The Brewers are 74-59 and have a three-game lead over the Cubs in the NL Central.
Milwaukee has been mostly playing Andruw Monastario at third base, and as The Athletic noted, he has “cooled off” with a .590 OPS in August.
One other potential reason the Brewers made the move is they could believe Donaldson is an upgrade over Monastario in the field, as Milwaukee is a team built all the way around for run prevention, from starting pitching to the bullpen to fielding prowess.
There is also a general theory in baseball that sometimes players struggle in pressure cooker environments like New York, Philadelphia or Boston and can salvage their careers in less intense fan and media markets.
The Yankees are eating Donaldson’s contract, the Brewers will only owe him the prorated portion of the veteran’s minimum for the rest of the season.