He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers, Arizona Diamondbacks, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox, and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim between 1999 and 2014.

[6] In 1998, he was invited to the Indians' spring training camp, and moved up to the Akron Aeros of the Double A Eastern League, where his defensive plays at shortstop made him a popular player with the fans.

[6] McDonald made his major league debut for Cleveland on July 4, 1999, and appeared in 18 games for the Indians that season.

[2] After three full seasons with the Indians, McDonald was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays on December 2, 2004, in exchange for Tom Mastny.

[6] During the first part of the 2005 season with the Blue Jays, McDonald was primarily a backup for Russ Adams at shortstop, and recorded a .290 batting average with 12 RBI in 37 games.

McDonald took the opportunity as starting shortstop to make some exceptional defensive plays (often in conjunction with fellow infielders Aaron Hill and Lyle Overbay).

He was considered by some baseball writers to be a Gold Glove contender after leading AL shortstops with a .986 in fielding percentage.

Due in large part to his defensive abilities, McDonald received a two-year contract extension from the Blue Jays reportedly worth $3.8 million in September 2007.

[9] In a poll of viewers on Rogers Sportsnet, McDonald was voted the most popular Blue Jay, narrowly edging out Cy Young-winning pitcher Roy Halladay.

[10] At the start of the 2009 season, McDonald again found himself the back-up shortstop, this time behind newly acquired Marco Scutaro.

[6] McDonald started the 2011 season as a non-starting utility bench player, able to enter the game as a pinch runner, or as a replacement infielder or left fielder.

)[14] On April 22, 2011, McDonald came into a game against the Tampa Bay Rays to replace an injured Jayson Nix, and hit his first career walk-off home run, a two-run homer in the 11th inning.

[2] Due to some of his outstanding defensive plays, local media also dubbed him "Magic Man" (the title of a popular 1976 hit song by Heart), and "The Prime Minister of Defence" (a word play on the similarly named first prime minister of Canada, John A.

[19] During his time in Arizona, McDonald served as the Diamondbacks' primary shortstop following the trade in 2011 but shared his duties with Willie Bloomquist and Stephen Drew in 2012.

[26] On August 31, 2013, McDonald was traded to Boston Red Sox in exchange for minor league pitcher Nefi Ogando.

He was able to accept his degree from the college president on July 13, 2010, during the annual break for the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.