DUNEDIN, Florida - Josh Donaldson arrived well in advance of Friday's mandatory deadline for position players and took batting practice for the first time while adorned in Blue Jays' blue.

"It's definitely going to take some time to get used to," said Donaldson, who's worn the green and yellow of the Oakland Athletics since making his major league debut in 2010, of the new colour. "But it matches (my) eyes so I like it."

But general manager Alex Anthopoulos didn't bring Donaldson to Toronto for his fashion eye. He'll take the keen batting eyes, thanks very much; the eyes of the man who's 53 home runs over two full big league seasons.

Manager John Gibbons admits he's been "fantasizing" about adding Donaldson to an already potent middle of the lineup. Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion will bat third and fourth, respectively. There was office chatter about hitting Donaldson in front of those two but Gibbons said he prefers Russell Martin in the two-hole. Expect Donaldson to bat fifth.

A one-to-five punch of Jose Reyes, Martin, Bautista, Encarnacion and Donaldson is made even more appealing once you've run down each player's on-base percentage for last season. In corresponding order, they are .328, .402, .403, .354 and .342.

Never mind the overdose of right-handedness.

"When you're that good a hitter it really doesn't matter," said Gibbons. "It makes it probably a little easier for the other side, how they want to stack their bullpen up but when you have to face that good a hitter, one after another, I don't care who you bring in it's a tough task."

While it's ridiculous to suggest you can know a person based on an initial impression, Donaldson portrays as the likeable type, a guy who's made a point of introducing himself to new teammates. He's not going to blow the clubhouse doors off with a rousing speech; he said that's not his nature. But Donaldson will lead by an example set for him by a former teammate in Oakland, Jonny Gomes.

"The guy's a winner," said Donaldson. "He really took me under his wing and kind of showed me the way of how winners play the game. The attitude that they bring, these guys don't change. No matter you go 0-for-4 with four (strikeouts) you're still trying to find a way to be positive about that day whether it's helping a teammate to believe in himself to get that game-winning hit; really just focusing it more on your teammates versus yourself because if you get caught up in numbers, you're going to drive yourself crazy."

The path to here was littered with small land mines.

It was Anthopoulos' persistent pursuit of Donaldson which ultimately landed him his prized third baseman. Oakland's general manager, Billy Beane, turned down repeated inquiries, the first of which was made shortly after the end of the regular season. Anthopoulos' plan was to bring in Donaldson to play third base and have Brett Lawrie move to second. Sensing interest despite Beane's hesitations, Anthopoulos changed course.

"I'm the one who introduced Lawrie at that point," said Anthopoulos. "We weren't looking to trade Brett Lawrie but it wasn't getting anywhere with trying to get Donaldson and once I introduced Lawrie to fill that hole for him then he seemed a little more open-minded and we took it from there."

Then, earlier this month, the Jays and Donaldson went to arbitration. Donaldson wanted $5.75-million. Toronto offered $4.3-million. The club won the hearing. These things can become unpleasant, especially if the team lays out all the reasons why a player isn't worth what he claims.

If Donaldson's bothered, he's not showing it. After all, he got a healthy raise.

"I mean it's one of those things where it felt like I was winning no matter what for the simple mind that I was making $500-thousand last year and for the past two years so I went with the mindset if I won that was going to be great and if I lost I was still winning at the end of the day," he said.

Donaldson remembered Oakland's visit to Toronto last May. His A's got swept in a three-game series, victories four through six for the Jays during a season-high nine-game win streak.

"We were playing pretty good baseball at the time," said Donaldson. "We left there feeling like they definitely had a chance to go to the postseason last year because we felt we were a pretty good team as well."

Donaldson also was on the field for one of the Jays' worst moments of last season: it was July 5 at O.co Coliseum when Edwin Encarnacion tore a quadriceps muscle running out a first inning ground ball. His loss, coupled days later with Adam Lind's foot injury, crippled the heart of the batting order and sent Toronto into a tailspin from which it wouldn't recover.

"You could tell that was a big blow for them and why not? He's one of the best power hitters in the game," said Donaldson.

Crucial to Donaldson's rapid development at a relatively advanced age (he's now 29) has been his ability to stay healthy. He's played 158 games in each of the previous two seasons. By contrast Lawrie appeared in 177 games combined in that span.

What good are the five tools (hit for average, hit for power, speed, arm strength, fielding ability) if a player can't stay on the field?

"In baseball I believe that's your sixth tool," said Donaldson. "Everybody talks about having five tools. I think the sixth tool is being able to stay on the field because if you're not able to stay on the field you're not able to benefit your club that day."

REYES' ARRIVAL

Shortstop Jose Reyes is expected to make his first appearance of the spring at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium on Wednesday.

CECIL SICK

Reliever Brett Cecil was playing catch with trainer George Poulis at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium early Tuesday morning.

He wasn't in camp on Monday, suffering from flu-like symptoms.

Still not back to full health, Cecil was excused from morning drills.