Donaldson garners second top-10 MVP finish

OAKLAND -- Josh Donaldson once again ranked in the Top 10 in voting for the American League MVP Award. The A's third baseman placed eighth overall on the 2014 ballot, as announced Thursday, after finishing fourth last year.

Division foe Mike Trout of the Angels was the unanimous winner, receiving all 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Donaldson appeared on 24 ballots, each ranking 10 players, and was given one second-place vote, from David Coleman of the Fort Bend Herald, and a pair of third-place votes from Susan Slusser (San Francisco Chronicle) and John Tomase (Boston Herald).

The All-Star infielder also received two fourth-place votes and totaled 96 points overall to finish behind Trout, Victor Martinez, Michael Brantley, Jose Abreu, Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz, respectively.

Video: LAA@OAK: Donaldson gets three hits, knocks in four

Donaldson, who will turn 29 in December, hit .255 this season after batting .301 in 2013 but compiled a career-high 29 homers and 98 RBIs and provided tremendous defense while playing through a variety of injuries.

Donaldson is arbitration-eligible for the first time in his career thanks to Super Two status and is projected to earn $4.5 million in 2015, as estimated by MLB Trade Rumors.