Cardinals infielder/outfielder Brendan Donovan figures to be one of the most sought after trade candidates this offseason. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the Royals and Guardians are two of the clubs interested in acquiring him. Goold also mentions that the Yankees and Dodgers had interest prior to the deadline, which perhaps indicates they would be interested again.
Donovan, 29 in January, has a strong major league track record. He has appeared in 492 games and stepped to the plate 2,006 times. His 9.1% walk rate is solid while his 13.5% strikeout rate is much better than par. He has slashed .282/.361/.411 for a 119 wRC+, indicating he’s been 19% better than league average overall. He has also bounced around the diamond, having played all four infield positions as well as the outfield corners.
He is now two years from free agency. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $5.4MM salary in 2026. He’ll be due a raise in 2027 before hitting the open market. The Cards are reportedly planning to engage in a multi-year rebuild and likely won’t be competitive in Donovan’s window of control.
Today, a report from Ken Rosenthal, Will Sammon and Katie Woo of The Athletic says the Cards are willing to entertain offers on many of their players but would prefer to hold Alec Burleson and Iván Herrera. Burleson is controlled for three more seasons and Herrera four. That perhaps gives some insight into what the Cards are envisioning as their rebuilding timeline.
That situation alone makes Donovan a trade candidate but there’s also the club’s broader infield picture to consider. Infielder JJ Wetherholt is one of the top prospects in the sport and is knocking on the door of the majors. Masyn Winn, controlled for four more years, is a strong glove-first shortstop. Wetherholt is also a shortstop but his defense is not at Winn’s level, so he’s likely to be moved to second or third base. The Cards also have Donovan, Nolan Arenado, Nolan Gorman and Thomas Saggese in the mix for playing time at those spots.
Arenado and Gorman are coming off some poor seasons and don’t have huge trade value right now. That’s especially true for Arenado, considering his contract, which features a large salary and a no-trade clause. Trading Donovan is the best path for the Cards to both recoup some meaningful young talent, likely on the pitching side, while also freeing up more playing time for others.
President of baseball operations Chaim Bloom admitted to Goold this week that he would likely be focused on acquiring rotation options. That could be controllable young guys or even veterans to eat innings. That will be especially true if they trade Sonny Gray, who is getting interest.
“We’ve definitely been listening on him,” Bloom said. “And definitely, as you would imagine, any time you have a good player, you’re probably going to get some attention and people who are interested. That’s not a surprise. He’s still one of the better pitchers in the league. We value him very highly. Just where we are and thinking long term, we’ve talked to him and we feel there might be something that makes sense. We’ll continue to explore that.”
Without Gray, the projected rotation includes Andre Pallante, Matthew Liberatore, Michael McGreevy and Kyle Leahy. Even a rebuilding club will want to do better than that. Bloom also spoke of a desire to add a veteran or two to the bullpen, though that would likely come via free agency rather than trade.
Given Donovan’s defensive flexibility, he could make sense for almost any contending club, but the Royals are certainly a good fit. “Right now we don’t have somebody who can play infield and right field, and that’s something we’ve got to look at,” Royals president of baseball operations J.J. Picollo said to Goold, speaking generally, not of Donovan specifically. “If we had somebody who could go from the infield to the outfield that’s very beneficial.”
The Royals have had problems in the outfield for years. In 2025, they got a collective .225/.285/.348 line from their outfielders. That resulted in a wRC+ of 73, dead last in the majors. Second base was also a problem this year. Jonathan India and Michael Massey were the primary options at the keystone. India hit .233/.323/.346 on the year for a wRC+ of 89. Massey was even worse, with a .244/.268/.313 line and 57 wRC+. India is going into his final arbitration season, with a projected $7.4MM salary. Massey is projected for just $2MM and can be controlled through 2028.
The payroll appears to be tight in Kansas City but moving on from India and replacing him with Donovan would actually save money. It would, however, require the Royals to give up something of value to the Cardinals. Thankfully, the Cards need controllable pitching more than anything and that’s something the Royals have. Kansas City currently projects to have a rotation of Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo, Kris Bubic and Michael Wacha. That leaves just one spot for Noah Cameron, Stephen Kolek, Ryan Bergert, Luinder Avila or Ben Kudrna.
Since pitching injuries are inevitable, the Royals would presumably prefer to hang onto that depth. However, without a lot of money to spend, there’s an argument for using those arms on the trade block to address their needs on the position player side. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports that they are also looking for a left fielder and righty-swinging guy to platoon with Jac Caglianone.
Donovan swings from the left side and wouldn’t help with the latter need, though he could help in left field if he is acquired and either Massey, India or someone like Nick Loftin takes hold of the second base job. Some righty platoon bats who wouldn’t break the bank include Lane Thomas, Miguel Andujar, Randal Grichuk, Austin Hays, Rob Refsnyder and Austin Slater .
The Guards are also a sensible fit. Similar to the Royals, they have been struggling to get strong production from their outfield. As mentioned, the Royals had the worst outfield production in the league in 2025. The Guards were barely above them on that list with a .225/.288/.341 line and 77 wRC+. Second base was also a weak spot, with Brayan Rocchio and Daniel Schneemann getting most of the playing time this year. Rocchio finished the season with a .233/.290/.340 line and 77 wRC+, with Schneemann posting a .206/.283/.354 line and 79 wRC+.
For both the outfield and second base, there are some potential in-house solutions. Travis Bazzana, one of the club’s top prospects, is a second baseman who is closing in on his major league debut. In the outfield, Chase DeLauter and George Valera both got late promotions in 2025. Given Donovan’s versatility, he could move around the field depending on which of those young guys are healthy and productive. His modest projected salary is also an obvious highlight for a low-spending club like the Guardians.
There’s often an abundance of controllable pitching depth in Cleveland but that’s less the case than usual right now. Their rotation was middling in 2025, but they did just bolster their pipeline by adding Khal Stephen in the Shane Bieber trade.
For the Yankees and Dodgers, their situations have changed since their reported interest in Donovan in July. The Yanks grabbed Ryan McMahon from the Rockies ahead of the deadline, moving Jazz Chisholm Jr. to second. They could still fit Donovan in the outfield but they will probably try to reunite with Cody Bellinger and/or Trent Grisham, while perhaps pursuing Kyle Tucker as well.
The Dodgers, they had Max Muncy on the injured list in July and Tommy Edman was banged up as well. Muncy got healthy by the end of the year. Edman recently underwent surgery to address his ankle and should be good to go by spring training. Both Edman and Donovan are capable of playing both second base and the outfield, so perhaps there’s a way they can co-exist. Donovan’s two-year window of control would line up with recent reporting that the Dodgers might look for a short-term outfield solution since they have so many prospects on the way. Donovan could fit into that plan but the Dodgers could also target more of a straightforward outfielder.
Photo courtesy of Jeff Curry, Imagn Images
IMO Yankees should have gotten Donovan instead of McMahon. What’s it’s going to take for Yankees to get Kwan? How about Dominez, Jones and Gil. Especially if Bellinger comes back. Kwan can lead off. I’m still waiting for a legitimate lead-off hitter for Yankees.
They probably should trade Donny since they’ve never extended him. Arenado is almost unmovable at this point. Perhaps Contreras could be traded, although I know he said he wanted to stay at one point. Would open up 1B for Burleson who is an awkward fit in the outfield. Gorman is cooked, I don’t know what people are expecting from him at this point. I’d keep Noot and see if he can rebuild some value prior to the deadline. Give Baez a shot in the spring because Walker is fast approaching Gorman territory.
RF: Baez/Walker
CF: VSII
LF: Noot
3B: Arenado
SS: Winn
2B: Wetherholt
1B: Burleson
C: Pages
DH: Herrera
INF UTL: Saggese
OF UTL: Church
Its not a great team, but there are some young guys to get excited about, particularly Wetherholt and Baez. Winn, Burelson, and Herrera have developed very nicely so far. The big issue is still the starting pitching though. Not sure what will happen there.
Id think Beaz needs sometime at AAA before they call him to the majors. Walker is the reason I say this. I was excited when they drafted Beaz and last I knew he was still at single A. His AA last stats last season are impressive enough to say the Cardinals definitely could trade Donovan for controllable pitching and play it by ear this spring.
Id hope they could move Gray for controllable pitching as well, even if that means eating 10-15 million in salary. Id also like to see Arenado moved for controllable pitching, and Contreras, but those two are even more unlikely than Gray due to NTC and wanting to stay. Gray is a hard sell as well without eating a significant portion of salary. Hes said he wants to win so id think they could trade him to a playoff contender. It would be nice to see them move him for pitching and only eat 5-10 million, but id think 10-20 million would be expected for a nice prospect(s) return
I think you make a good point on Baez. I’d let him and Walker compete in the Spring. If Baez doesn’t totally dominate, or if Walker doesn’t look at least decent, I’d be fine giving Baez a real shot on opening day. He’s a natural outfielder on a rebuilding team with zero pressure, whereas Walker was trying to learn outfield and was expected to be an impact bat on a playoff team.
Also what is going on with Drew Rom?
Wdym?
Drew Rom’s injury history is a left shoulder injury that began as left biceps tendinitis in Spring 2024, leading to season-ending arthroscopic surgery. He missed the entire 2024 season and was later moved to the 60-day injured list. In February 2025, he had another setback with his shoulder. By May 2025, he was on a rehab assignment with Single-A Palm Beach and then moved up to Triple-A Memphis.
Rom was placed on the 7-day injured list at Triple-A Memphis on 6/9/2025 with an undisclosed injury. Hasn’t pitched since. He’s a free agent.
Baez won’t be ready for the big leagues until at least mid-season.
Yes, Gorman had a bad year, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as Walker’s was. Gorman would at least make a decent bench bat if he’s not traded.
Meanwhile, as you said, Contreras is probably staying, so Burleson is more likely to continue playing corner outfield with Walker likely benched or in AAA (at least to start the season). While his defense there is pretty below average, it’s worth it to get his bat in the lineup alongside both Herrera and Contreras.
They’d better have someone better than Church as the 5th OF given how badly he sucked last year. Plus, Scott looks like he could really use a right-handed platoon partner.
There’s also the possibility that Nootbaar gets traded and Donovan plays LF or RF in his place.
Yeah, I like the idea of them possibly signing an outfielder to share time in CF. I know my lineup doesn’t indicate it, but I’m not a huge believer in Scott yet.
If it were up to me, I’d extend Donny and trade Noot.
Acquiring Donovan allows the Royals to non-tender India (which they probably do anyway) and solves one of two problems in either 2B or LF. They should bring back Yaz and sign Hays as well
The Royals desperately need another premium hitter *as well as* a solid bat like Donovan. Witt is fantastic and Perez is still pretty good, but another lineup anchor as well as Donny would help them tremendously.
I’m hoping the Red Sox get involved by targeting Donovan and Contreras together to solve their 2B and 1B problems. I’m not sure what STL is in the market for, but undoubtedly there are some prospects that have lingering appeal to Chaim Bloom from his Boston days.
Donovan is a good player, but the Cardinals won’t be competitive for at least 2 or 3 years at best. At least if they traded him, I wouldn’t have to listen to people, including the announcers, calling him the childish name, Donny anymore.
The Cardinals could always play Donovan primarily in the outfield and trade someone like Nootbaar instead if they think Donovan is too valuable to give up compared to the offers they receive.
Nootbaar underwent surgery effectively killing interest in his trade market accordington Goold. If they move him it’d be for nothing today or at the deadline.