This week’s trade sending Nolan Arenado from St. Louis to Arizona and the Cubs’ weekend signing of Alex Bregman figure to accelerate the market surrounding various trade and free agent scenarios. One club that could directly be impacted is the Mariners, who’ve spent the bulk of the winter trying to add another infielder after re-signing Josh Naylor on a five-year contract early in the offseason.
Seattle’s interest in Cardinals second baseman Brendan Donovan is no secret. They were linked to him last offseason and have been reported to be one of his most prominent suitors this winter. Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports that in addition to Donovan, the Mariners have had “ongoing” discussions with the Cardinals about left-handed reliever JoJo Romero throughout the winter. Seattle already added one southpaw arm for the bullpen, acquiring Jose A. Ferrer from the Nationals in December, and they have a second outstanding option in Gabe Speier, who enjoyed a breakout year in 2025 (and was just added to the Team USA roster for the upcoming World Baseball Classic).
Adam Jude of the Seattle Times reports that Donovan is the Mariners’ top target on the trade market but adds that the M’s also have interest in Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner. The veteran Hoerner’s name has come up in trade speculation since the Bregman signing, though it seems unlikely a deal will actually come together. Chicago appears willing to listen as a matter of due diligence but would presumably need to be overwhelmed and receive substantial big league talent to trade Hoerner coming off a .297/.345/.394 season that saw him swipe 29 bases, win his second Gold Glove and finish sixth in the National League with 6.2 wins above replacement, per Baseball-Reference (or 15th with 4.8 fWAR, for those who prefer FanGraphs’ version of the statistic).
[Related: Giants Aggressively Pursuing Second Base Upgrade]
At this point, the fit between Donovan and the Mariners has been explored at length. He’s an affordable ($5.8MM in 2026) high-contact bat with good on-base and defensive skills who can handle either of the two currently unsettled positions in the Seattle infield: second base or third base. The M’s have plenty of highly touted prospects who could emerge at those positions — Colt Emerson, Cole Young, Michael Arroyo among them — but Donovan could also move to an outfield corner if those promising young players force the issue. He’s under control through the 2027 season via arbitration.
Romero was previously linked to the Mariners, but that was before the team acquired Ferrer. It’s notable that Jones implies there have been talks even after that swap. The 29-year-old lefty has been a mainstay in the Cardinals’ bullpen for three-plus seasons now and has steadily shown year-over-year improvement. In 2025, he tossed a career-high 61 innings with a career-best 2.07 earned run average. Romero saved eight games, tallied 24 holds and blew only one opportunity. He fanned a slightly below-average 21.6% of his opponents against a bloated 11.4% walk rate that stands as a major outlier relative to the career 7.7% walk rate he carried into the ’25 season. The lefty also kept a hefty 54.5% of batted balls on the ground.
The Cardinals signed Romero to a $4.26MM contract for the upcoming season — his final year of club control. While last year’s hiccup in terms of command is of at least some concern, the broader track record is quite strong. Since joining the Cardinals, Romero boasts a flat 3.00 ERA (3.61 SIERA) with a 23.4% strikeout rate, 9.1% walk rate, 53.7% ground-ball rate, 57 holds and 12 saves. The Orioles and Yankees are among the others to show interest in Romero, though it’s a veritable certainty that the field of interested clubs is much larger than just these three.
Echoing previous reporting from The Athletic’s Katie Woo, Jude suggests that at least a pair of top-100 prospects — switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje and outfielder Lazaro Montes — have been discussed in talks with the Cardinals. The exact permutations of those talks remains murky. There’s no firm indication that St. Louis has sought both in the same package for Donovan, just as there’s no certainty that Seattle has offered both. It’s certainly possible that Romero’s name has come up as part of a package talk involving one or both those ballyhooed young players. Whatever shape those negotiations have taken, they (obviously) have yet to culminate in a deal.
Hoerner, much like Donovan, is a straightforward fit for the Mariners. The previously mentioned Cole Young is currently in line to open the season at second base for the M’s. He’s a former first-round pick and top-50 prospect, but Young hit just .211/.302/.305 in his first 77 MLB games last year. He won’t even turn 23 until late July, so there’s plenty of time for him to develop into a quality regular, but the Mariners are built to win right now. Hoerner, a free agent next winter who’s signed for $12MM in 2026, would give the Mariners an immediate upgrade while affording them the luxury of additional development time for Young. As a bonus, Seattle could extend a qualifying offer to Hoerner next November, netting them a compensatory draft pick in the event that he signs elsewhere.
Again, the Cubs are not outright shopping Hoerner but are willing to hear other clubs out. They’re almost certainly not going to trade him for prospects who are years from MLB readiness; doing so would offset most or even all of the wins gained by bringing Bregman into the fold. It’s hard to come up with a direct exchange that would benefit both parties equally, but the Mariners are nothing if not aggressive and creative on the trade front.
At present, RosterResource projects the Mariners for just under $157MM in 2026 payroll. That’s a bit shy of the franchise-record $158MM Opening Day payroll and a ways south of the roughly $167MM figure at which they ended the 2025 campaign. Given the win-now push in Seattle and the extra revenue from a deep playoff run that saw the Mariners advance to Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, it stands to reason that ownership is willing to push payroll beyond those marks.
What about Lenyn Sosa?
He’s a downgrade
He’d probably be a downgrade actually
He’s an upgrade
UPGRAYDD
Bob, you must have rabies again
Just sign Bo…
I’ve been saying this since the start of the offseason
This would make to much sense actually to actually happen
Back off Mariners !
Word on the street is SFG is “aggressive”.
They might start lobbing sourdough..
Jones from BND is worthless and is shut out a lot from the club. I’d take anything he says with smaller than a grain of salt.
The Mariners are not going to make any additional moves for a big bat. They will wait until the trade deadline to see if they can cheap their way through the season. They ought to change the name of the franchise to the Seattle Chick’s. The fans screaming “Cheap Cheap Cheap”will be seen as a term of endearment to the owners.
Donovan and Romero for Williamson, Cjintje and a comp pick number 72 I believe it is.
Donovan can help at 2b and 3b for 2026 while also getting time at corner outfield and DH. In 2027 Donovan can move around depending on if they bring Crawford back and where they want to play Emerson.
Cardinals don’t have much need to Williamson. Personally, I’d rather see:
Brendan Donovan and JoJo Romero
for
Kade Anderson, Samad Taylor, and whoever they’re going DFA for the other 40-man roster spot (preferably a pitcher).
They won’t be trading Kade or Sloan in any deal. They will have have rotation slots to replace Castillo and Gilbert
It needs to be shouted out to all of Cards Nation. You will not get Kade Anderson or Ryan Sloan in any deal. You don’t have a player they will trade them for straight up. Just drop those ideas.
I say get Jojo and Geno!
Side note: I really hope Cijntje can make it work sticking as a switch pitcher. The game is more fun with unique players like that!
The Cards can almost name their price for Donovan.
Seattle does line up very well on a trade with all their top 100 prospects. Putting a table setter in the M’s lineup for their big bats would make the M’s quite formidable. But Seattle’s top prospect, Colt Emerson finished last year with AAA and he’s probably viewed as a mid season call-up. Impasse with those 2 teams.
Yeah DLaw, it does seem like if the Cards trade Donovan, they are going to get a haul. Between their possible high asking price and the possible bidding war between at least the Mariners, Giants, and Red Sox, if not more, the Cardinals can wait things out and get the deal that they want for him.
The days of stupid trades is beyond us. There is a reason that Jim Bowden has a radio gig now instead of an actual MLB job. Seattle, Boston, SF, etc are not going to just pay whatever the Cards demand. At this point, i think we have seen they will not get what they want. Either the Cards cave to a reasonable ask or Donovan starts the season with StL. Which is dumb, since he will lose a lot more value at that point.
The only way he loses value is if he is not playing his usual baseball the first half of the season. Otherwise teams have clearer needs to add at the trade deadline. My concern with that approach for STL would be injury and lack of any protection in the batting order so the rate stats may look even worse for Donovan mid season than what would be desired. Herrera, Burleson, Donovan, Wetherholt, Winn, Nootbar, Gorman, Walker, VScott3. Some potential there, but not a huge slugging group.
I hope Seattle doesn’t get either of them.
Excited for 60 mil Walker this year?
Excited to see a bounce back.
My grandparents don’t understand how I feel.
Tell them about your preferred pronoun.
I’m willing to risk having black holes at 2nd and 3rd until the deadline because we need to give guys like Young a chance to prove themselves, also Arizona is likely to be bad and be trade partners with us yet again with Marte
I agree with you Sad & Tormented. Marte will have his 10 & 5 no trade clause kick in by then but he may wave it to play for a contender. Still, the Mariners need at least one more bat if not two, and a quality bullpen arm. if you get Donovan or Hoerner or don’t want to pay the asking price, then at least sign Willy Castro or Luis Rengifo if the price is right. Both can play multiple positions where the Mariners need depth and possible help.
You can’t go into the year relying on Young, Williamson and Emerson to start the year. Need some experience. If Hoerner and Donovan don’t get done who else is available? Willi Castro? Moncado? Bohm?
Lenyn Sosa doesn’t have a spot with the White Sox and I don’t think he would cost a ton
Sosa looks like a good match. Though how can the White Sox not find at bats for a guy who hit 22 bombs, 75 RBI’s and batted .264 at 2B? I know they have some good young infielders but they have huge holes all over that line-up and have to be able to find a spot for him n THAT line-up. Yeah, he may very well help the Mariners,. Can play 2B, 3B, and 1B. Sounds like a great match. Nice idea!
As a Sox fan. I’m with you. I’d prefer they get him an OF mit and throw him in LF but that hasn’t been any reports of that happening.
If you do the Astros will take over again.
It’s weird to me that some people seem to view Donovan as if he’s a superstar. He’s not. He’s a really good utility player, but two years of control isn’t worth the haul they’ve been allegedly asking.
It’s also weird that nobody seems to give much attention to his splits (most people probably never even bothered to look). He’s a platoon bat with no power.
Hoerner doesn’t offer power, either, but he offers elite plate discipline (better than Donovan’s), he’d address Seattle’s need for a leadoff hitter, and nobody offers better defense at second base. Seattle’s defense ranked 26th last season via FanGraphs; 27th in OAA.
I don’t think Chicago is bent on moving Hoerner. The return would have to address another need significantly.
It seems likely Seattle is waiting for prices to come down, which isn’t likely happening, so perhaps they’d be wise to get Emerson, and even JP, familiar with second base; sign or trade for insurance at third, such as Andujar.
*Cue someone telling me that Andujar can’t play third or how Donovan isn’t a platoon bat and is a great clubhouse presence, etc.
If the Phils sign Bichette, would the Mariners have interest in trading for two of Bohm, Sosa, or Stott? What would they be willing to trade to the Phils in such a scenario? Phils will need salary relief. As a Phils fan, I’d like to get back 1 top 100 prospect and two other top 10-15 prospects if giving up two of the above three players.
Only need to move Bohm in your scenario above. Perhaps include Kerkering….. but I don’t know what the return would be
I think they’re fine with Emerson and Williamson. If they fail through Memorial Day then they can revisit.