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MLBTR Chat Transcript

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Steve Adams

  • Good morning! We’ll get going at 1pm CT, but feel free to ask questions ahead of time, as always.
  • Hello there! Let’s get going

Card fan from FL

  • cardinals getting 3 prospects  and two  draft picks for Donavan . What’s your take on the trade

M

  • How do you think the Mariners stack up against the rest of the AL now that they’ve added Donovan?

Bloomer

  • Where will the Cardinals offense come from Steve? This is gonna be a painful long season …..

Steve Adams

  • Not surprisingly, probably 50+ questions queued up on yesterday’s trade haha. I’ll spare you publishing them all and offer some thoughts (while also noting that Darragh and I broke this trade down for about 15 minutes on the episode of the podcast we recorded this morning, so keep an eye/ear out for that tomorrow morning!)
  • Donovan is an ideal fit for a Mariners team that has holes at 2B/3B/one corner OF spot and young options at each. He furthers their goal of cutting back on strikeouts/improving contact, and he does so while maintaining the flexibility/agility needed should any of Colt Emerson, Cole Young, Dom Canzone, etc. really show they need everyday ABs early in the season.
  • I think the Cards did well. They didn’t get a massive, marquee prospect but landed a top-100-ish guy (Cijntje), two recent top-100 draft picks (Peete, Ledbetter) and a pair of top-75 picks in the upcoming draft.Tai Peete (contact) and Colton Ledbetter (lack of any one true standout tool) both have some red flags but are solid additions to the middle tiers of the system. The picks are nice both for adding talent and giving them the flexibility to be creative if a first-round talent slides due to signability concerns.
  • The Rays’ side of this is the strangest to me, but I’ve come around on it. Williamson is a high-floor defender with decent contact skills who can back up at multiple positions. He has multiple minor league options remaining.Rays gave up a Comp pick for three years of a solid middle reliever (Bryan Baker) last July and another for a glove-first utility guy with decent contact skills this offseason. If you could guarantee a team an immediately usable RP or utility guy at the No. 70 pick, that guy would absolutely be scooped up.
  • It’s boring to say it works for everyone, but … I don’t have an immediately negative reaction to any angle of the deal.

Dana Brown

  • Donovan got that much. What could Paredes get?

Steve Adams

  • Probably less. He’s more expensive with no real defensive home and such an extreme pull-side, fly-ball approach that team with more spacious left field setups wouldn’t find him as valuable as the Astros and Rays did, for instance.Good player, don’t get me wrong, but I think Donovan had more trade value.

Logan and Robbie

  • Having Framber behind us makes a ton of sense, right? Right???

Steve Adams

  • Framber makes plenty of sense for the Giants. They’ve also signaled that they don’t want to sign a SP long-term this winter — their owner said as much publicly — and they also already signed a pair of (much lower upside) veterans in Houser and Mahle.I will say, the fit was better before the Giants signed Arraez to play 2B. That’s going to be a rough defensive left side of the infield for Logan Webb and any other ground-ball pitchers (like Valdez)
  • Speaking of which!

Confused Giant

  • Arraez and Devers on one side of the infield has to be one of the worst defensive pairings in baseball. How many grounders through the infield and missed double plays before Logan Webb asks for a trade? I have to believe he’s not getting to 200 innings with the Arraez-Devers defense extending innings. After working to improve the SF defense, is it surprising to see Buster Posey punt on one side of the infield?

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Royals, Vinnie Pasquantino Avoid Arbitration

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February 3rd: Pasquantino will make $4.2MM in 2026 and $6.9MM in 2027 for a combined guarantee of $11.1MM, per Jon Heyman of The New York Post. He will also get an extra $200K in 2027 for getting to 450, 500 and 550 plate appearances. His base salary in 2027 can also jump based on awards voting in 2026. It would increase by $4MM with an MVP win, $3MM if he finishes second through fifth in the voting, $2MM for finishing sixth through tenth, $1.5MM for 11th to 15th, and $1.25MM for 16th to 20th. He would get an extra $1MM for being selected All-MLB first team and $750K for the second team, though the max he can jump is $4.6MM.

January 30th: The Royals and first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino will avoid an arbitration hearing. Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports that he and the club have agreed to a two-year deal worth more than $11MM, with a chance for him to max out close to $16MM via incentives. Exact figures have not yet been publicly reported.

Pasquantino just qualified for arbitration for the first time going into 2026. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected him for a salary of $5.4MM. He was one of 18 players who did not have a deal in place through the arbitration filing deadline earlier this month. He and his camp filed at $4.5MM while the Royals filed at $4MM.

Most teams these days adopt a “file and trial” approach, which means they cut off negotiations of one-year deals after the filing deadline. This is to give them leverage in pre-deadline talks and also to prevent players from filing absurdly high numbers in an attempt to set out an aggressive bargaining stance. An arbiter can only pick the player’s or the team’s number, not a midpoint. Even if a team does have a “file and trial” policy, exceptions are made for deals that are longer than one year.

Arbitration hearings are generally viewed as a normal part of the business but occasional situations have occurred where the relationship between a player and a team have been damaged. Corbin Burnes said as much after his hearing with the Brewers three years ago. Pasquantino and the Royals have avoided that situation by agreeing to this multi-year pact, covering the first two of his three arbitration years. He will also be eligible for arbitration in 2028, before he’s slated to reach free agency.

There will now be no more than 14 hearings across the league this year. As mentioned, 18 players didn’t have a deal as of the deadline. Since then, Cade Cavalli, Bryce Miller, Joe Ryan and now Pasquantino have reached new deals to avoid hearings. The Royals still have one potential hearing on the docket, as they don’t yet have an agreement in place with left-hander Kris Bubic, who was projected for a $6MM salary. He filed at $6.15MM and the team at $5.15MM.

Photo courtesy of Dennis Lee, Imagn Images

Reds Designate Ben Rortvedt For Assignment

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The Reds announced that catcher Ben Rortvedt has been designated for assignment. That’s the corresponding move to open a 40-man spot for infielder Eugenio Suárez, whose signing is now official.

Rortvedt, 28, has never appeared in a game for the Reds. Cincinnati just claimed him off waivers from the Dodgers in November. At the time of that waiver claim, it was reported that Rortvedt and the Dodgers had already signed a deal for 2026 to avoid arbitration. The backstop will make $1.25MM this year.

The Dodgers were likely hoping that figure was high enough that no other club would claim him off waivers. Rortvedt is out of options and therefore can’t be sent to the minors while staying on the 40-man roster. Since he has at least three years of big league service time, Rortvedt has the right to reject outright assignments. But since his service clock is less than five years, he would have to forfeit his salary commitments in electing free agency. Had he cleared waivers, he likely would have stayed with the Dodgers as non-roster catching depth.

Instead, the Reds claimed him and have held him for the past few months. They might now be hoping that they get to keep Rortvedt as non-roster depth instead of the Dodgers. With this DFA, Cincinnati now has Jose Trevino and Tyler Stephenson as the only two catchers on the 40-man roster. Will Banfield is their most experienced non-roster guy at the moment, even though he has just seven big league games on his track record.

Rortvedt’s career has been up and down but he would be a solid depth option. He showed his potential by having a decent showing with the Rays in 2024. He stepped to the plate 328 times and put up a .228/.317/.303 line. That line led to an 87 wRC+, indicating he was 13% below league average. But since catchers are usually about ten points below the rest of the league, that’s not bad for a part-time backstop. Rortvedt’s glovework also got decent reviews, enough for FanGraphs to credit him with 1.4 wins above replacement for the year, even with that so-so offense.

Things backed up with Tampa last year. He hit .095/.186/.111 in his 70 plate appearances before getting outrighted off the roster. He was flipped to the Dodgers at the deadline as part of the three-team trade which saw the Reds gets Zack Littell. The Dodgers called him up in September when Will Smith was injured and Rortvedt bounced back somewhat, with a .224/.309/.327 line in a small sample of 58 plate appearances for the eventual World Series champs.

The Dodgers liked him enough that they seemingly hoped to keep him around as relatively expensive depth behind Smith and Dalton Rushing. The Reds will now have a maximum of one week of DFA limbo to work with. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so they could field trade interest but will likely place Rortvedt on waivers at some point in the next five days. If another team claims him, the Reds would likely need to add some veteran depth via minor league deals.

Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images

Reds Sign Eugenio Suarez

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February 3rd: The Reds made the Suarez deal official today. Catcher Ben Rortvedt was designated for assignment as the corresponding move.

February 1st: Eugenio Suarez is returning to Cincinnati, as ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that the slugger has signed a one-year, $15MM deal with the Reds that includes a mutual option for the 2027 season.  Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that the option is worth $16MM, though mutual options are rarely triggered by both sides.  The deal will become official once the Reds clear a spot on their 40-man roster, and presumably when Suarez passes a physical.  Suarez is represented by Octagon.

Reports emerged last week that the Reds had interest in a reunion with the third baseman, who hit .253/.335/.476 with 189 homers over 3730 plate appearances during the 2015-21 seasons.  The continued uncertainty over the Reds’ broadcast deal with Main Street Sports was said to be a holdup for the team in how much money they had available to pursue Suarez or other targets like Austin Hays (who signed with the White Sox yesterday).

With an agreement now in place with Suarez, it could be that the Reds have gotten some clarity about how they’ll proceed with MSS or perhaps a new broadcasting agreement with Major League Baseball itself.  Alternatively, Suarez’s acceptance of just a one-year deal and arguably a discount price may be another reason why the two sides were able to line up on a contract.

MLB Trade Rumors ranked Suarez 20th on our list of the winter’s top 50 free agents, and projected him for a three-year, $63MM deal.  The one-year, $15MM pact falls well short of that prediction in both years and average annual value, as it could be teams were wary of making a larger commitment to a strikeout-prone player who turns 35 in July.  Suarez’s third base glovework also dropped in 2025, as he posted -6 Defensive Runs Saved and -3 Outs Above Average.

With the bat, however, Suarez hit 49 home runs in 2025, matching his career high set with the Reds in 2019.  Suarez’s overall slash line of .228/.298/.526 reflects his power-heavy output, as he delivered a below-average walk rate for the second consecutive season.  Though Suarez’s 29.8% strikeout rate put him in the fifth percentile of all batters, he maxed out when he did make contact, with strong hard-contact and barrel rates.

It has been a strange two-season run for Suarez, who sandwiched a superstar-level campaign in between two mediocre half-seasons.  Suarez had only a .591 OPS over his first 315 PA of the 2024 season with the Diamondbacks, before he caught fire and hit .276/.336/.593 with 60 homers over 766 PA from July 1, 2024 to July 31, 2025.  Unfortunately, Suarez then drastically cooled off after he was dealt to the Mariners at the trade deadline, but he somewhat rebounded to get some key hits during Seattle’s postseason run to Game 7 of the ALCS.

This rather extreme streakiness could be another reason Suarez’s market never really took off this winter, as teams were justifiably not sure exactly which version of Suarez they’d get in his 13th big league season.  The Mariners had some interest in a reunion, and other teams like the Cubs, Red Sox, and Pirates were also linked to the slugger.

Pittsburgh was the other finalist for Suarez’s services, according to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo.  As per MLB.com’s Alex Stumpf and Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pirates were willing to offer a $15MM average annual salary to Suarez and also offered him a second guaranteed year.  In taking just a one-year contract, Suarez seems to be hoping to fully re-establish his market by having a big season in 2026 and then re-entering free agency next winter.  It was also very likely to Cincinnati’s benefit that Suarez is already very familiar with the organization from his previous seven-year run in the Queen City.

While the Pirates are on the way up, Suarez may have been more interested in joining a Reds team that actually did make the playoffs in 2025.  Cincinnati reached the postseason on the strength of its rotation, as the lineup was average at best in most offensive categories, and 21st of 30 teams in home runs.  Elly De La Cruz and Spencer Steer combined for 43 homers as the Reds’ top two home-run hitters in 2025, so Suarez alone tops that total.

Suarez steps right into an everyday role in the Reds’ lineup, though it will be interesting to see where exactly Suarez is deployed.  Ke’Bryan Hayes is arguably the best defensive third baseman in the game, so Suarez is more likely to see a lot of action as a DH and possibly at first base.  Suarez’s MLB history as a first baseman consists of just three late-game appearances, all of which came last year.  The Reds will surely give Suarez plenty of time at the position this spring to see how Suarez fares at the cold corner, and Steer and Sal Stewart will also receive at-bats in the first base/DH mix.  Stewart can also play some second base and Steer could play left field, with Steer’s right-handed bat complementing the left-handed hitting JJ Bleday on the grass.

Bleday and Dane Myers were the only notable offensive adds the Reds made prior to today, with the two outfielders more or less replacing Hays and Gavin Lux (who was dealt to the Rays as part of the three-team deal with the Angels that brought reliever Brock Burke to Cincinnati).  Suarez now represents a major boost to the Reds’ lineup, and a source of stability on a team that is still waiting to see what it has in players like Steer, Stewart, Matt McLain, or Noelvi Marte.  Even De La Cruz was more good than great in 2025, but EDLC figures to benefit with Suarez providing protection behind him in the lineup.

RosterResource estimates a $126.1MM payroll for the Reds at the moment, which is a minor increase over their $118.7MM figure from the 2025 season.  President of baseball operations Nick Krall said in early November that the Reds would be spending at “around the same” levels as 2025, so it could be that the team is essentially done with significant offseason moves unless they can unload some salary.

This could again change depending on what happens with the Reds’ broadcast deal, or ownership might potentially green-light some more spending either now or during the season (perhaps once some ticket revenue starts rolling in).  The Reds seem to be well-positioned to make another run at a postseason berth in 2026, even though within the NL Central alone, the Pirates will be better and the Brewers and Cubs each figure to keep battling for the division crown.

Inset photo courtesy of Stephen Brashear — Imagn Images

Twins, Eduardo Salazar Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Twins and right-handed reliever Eduardo Salazar are in agreement on a minor league contract, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post. He’ll presumably be in camp as a non-roster invitee later this month.

Salazar has pitched in each of the past three major league seasons, spending time with the Reds, Dodgers and Nationals, in that order. The 27-year-old righty has pitched 70 2/3 big league innings but been tagged for a grisly 5.99 ERA in that time. Salazar sat 95.1 mph with his four-seamer and 94.4 mph with his sinker in 2025, complementing that pair of heaters with a slider that averaged 87.5 mph. He’s fanned only 16% of his opponents in the majors against a 10.2% walk rate, but the right-hander does sport an encouraging 52.8% ground-ball rate.

Salazar’s production in the upper minors hasn’t been demonstrably better. He has a 5.71 ERA in 117 Triple-A frames with comparable strikeout, walk and ground-ball rates. That said, he did post quality swinging-strike and strikeout rates during his Triple-A time with the Nationals in 2024-25, which is notable given that Washington altered his pitch selection. He’d previously been almost exclusively a sinker/slider reliever with very occasional four-seamers and changeups. The Nats significantly upped his four-seam usage, so perhaps Minnesota is intrigued by what he’d look like with further tweaks to his pitch usage and/or pitch shapes.

There’s plenty of room in the Twins’ bullpen, should Salazar enjoy a nice performance in spring training or early in the season with the Twins’ Triple-A club in St. Paul. Minnesota had one of baseball’s best bullpens heading into the 2025 trade deadline and gutted it by trading Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland, Danny Coulombe and Brock Stewart as part of an 11-player fire sale. They’ve done virtually nothing to revamp the relief corps this offseason. Taylor Rogers returned on a $2MM deal for what will be his age-35 season, and the Twins picked up righty Eric Orze in a small trade with the Rays.

That pair will join holdovers Justin Topa, Cole Sands and Kody Funderburk in what looks like one of the weakest bullpens in the sport. The Twins have more young starting pitchers in the upper minors than they have rotation spots available, so perhaps some of David Festa, Zebby Matthews, Taj Bradley, Connor Prielipp and Marco Raya will end up in the bullpen rather than on the starting staff.

Regardless, the Twins represent a good opportunity for someone like Salazar as he tries to find his footing in the majors. Salazar is out of minor league options. If he’s added to the 40-man at any point, he’ll need to stick or else be exposed to waivers. If things click, he can be controlled for five seasons, but there’s a lot that needs to go right before that’s a real consideration.

Phillies Re-Sign Daniel Robert To Minor League Deal

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The Phillies are in agreement with reliever Daniel Robert on a minor league contract, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. He’ll be in camp as a non-roster invitee after being dropped from Philadelphia’s roster at the tender deadline.

Robert landed in Philly last May via DFA trade with the Rangers. The 31-year-old righty made 15 appearances, allowing seven runs (six earned) across 13 innings. He struck out 15 but walked 10 out of 59 batters faced. Robert had better numbers in the minors, combining for a 2.67 earned run average across 30 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level. He struck out 27.3% of opponents against a sub-7% walk rate. A forearm strain cost him the final month of the season.

The Phillies cut Robert from the 40-man roster in November. The non-tender sent him to free agency without exposing him to waivers. Teams frequently try to circle back on minor league deals with pre-arbitration players in those situations. It took a few months but the Phillies follow that path with Robert, who’ll try to pitch his way back into the middle innings as long as he’s healthy during Spring Training.

Philadelphia doesn’t have a ton of bullpen opportunities available if everyone gets through camp healthy. Jhoan Duran, José Alvarado, Brad Keller, Tanner Banks, Jonathan Bowlan and Orion Kerkering have jobs secure. That’d leave two bullpen roles up for grabs unless the Phillies add a swingman late in the offseason. Free agent signee Zach Pop is out of options, while Rule 5 draftee Zach McCambley needs to break camp or be placed on waivers and offered back to the Marlins if he clears.

The Opener: Cardinals, Arb Decisions, MLBTR Chat

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After one of the offseason’s biggest trades last night, here are three things for MLBTR readers to keep an eye out for throughout the day today:

1. Cardinals press conference:

The Cardinals pulled off the aforementioned major deal yesterday. They sent Brendan Donovan to the Mariners as part of a three-way trade involving Tampa Bay, and in return received a haul of prospects and draft picks headlined by right-hander Jurrangelo Cijntje. As noted by Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat, president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom is scheduled to hold a press conference at 11:15 am CT to discuss the trade. That figures to offer additional insight into the club’s negotiations regarding Donovan, and perhaps an update on future plans regarding other trade pieces (such as lefty reliever JoJo Romero) or free agent additions as Spring Training draws closer.

2. Arb Decisions to be handed down:

Arbitration hearings are underway, and yesterday saw panels listen to cases for Orioles right-hander Kyle Bradish and Astros catcher Yainer Diaz. The Associated Press reports that decisions on both cases are expected to come today. Bradish filed at $3.55MM while Baltimore filed at $2.875MM. Diaz and the Astros, meanwhile, had a larger differential between their filing figures as Diaz landed at $4.5MM while Houston countered at $3MM. Edwin Uceta and Dylan Lee have both also been through their hearings, but decisions on those cases aren’t expected until later in the process because they’d potentially impact ongoing hearings. That leaves Bradish and Diaz to be the first cases resolved in this year’s slate. Teams won five of the nine cases that went to hearings last year, though players won seven of 12 cases in 2024.

3. MLBTR Chat today:

Pitchers and catchers will begin reporting later this month, but some offseason questions still remain. Framber Valdez and Zac Gallen are among the top free agents still available, and while yesterday’s Donovan trade took the last major trade piece off of the market, a surprise deal can never be ruled out. If you’re wondering what’s left for your favorite team to do before spring begins or simply looking for the latest hot stove buzz, MLBTR’s Steve Adams has you covered with a live chat scheduled for 1:00 pm CT today. Readers can use this link to ask a question in advance, follow along when the chat begins, and read the transcript after the chat concludes.

Angels Sign Jeimer Candelario To Minor League Deal

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The Angels have signed infielder Jeimer Candelario to a minor league deal, according to a report from Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Candelario’s deal comes with an invite to big league Spring Training.

Candelario, 32, will enter camp looking to find a roster spot ahead of what would be his 11th big league season. Signed by the Cubs out of the Dominican Republic as an amateur, he made his pro debut back in 2011 and made it to the majors for a five-game cup of coffee during Chicago’s World Series-winning 2016 campaign. He once again got into a smattering of games in an up-and-down bench role with the club in 2017 before being included alongside Isaac Paredes in a deadline trade with the Tigers where the Cubs landed catcher Alex Avila and Justin Wilson. After the deadline, he played in 27 games for Detroit down the stretch and hit an impressive .330/.406/.468 in 106 trips to the plate.

The switch-hitter would struggle at the dish over the next few years with the Tigers before breaking out during the abbreviated 2020 season. From 2020-21, Candelario slashed an excellent .278/.356/.458 with a wRC+ of 124, and led his league with 42 doubles in the latter season. Some across the board regression led to a tough 2022 campaign that saw the Tigers non-tender him, but he rebounded well in 2023 with a strong season (118 wRC+, 3.2 fWAR) for the Nationals and Cubs in order to return to free agency with a solid chance at landing a multi-year deal.

That deal eventually came with the Reds, who signed him to a three-year, $45MM contract that was set to run from 2024 through 2026. His first year in Cincinnati was a disappointing one, as he hit just .225/.279/.429 with a wRC+ of 89 in 112 games to go along with atrocious defensive numbers at third base. That down season came while he battled knee tendinitis and a fractured toe. Even with those injuries casting uncertainty over his performance, Candelario’s defensive struggles were still enough to lose him the third base job with the Reds entering 2025. He played just 22 games for the Reds last year (and posted an ugly 10 wRC+ in those 91 plate appearances) before being sidelined with a lumbar spine issue. When his rehab window for that injury ended in late June, the Reds opted to release him rather than give him another shot on their roster.

He eventually signed with the Yankees on a minor league deal to finish out last season, and wound up hitting just .203/.289/.357 at Triple-A without getting a call-up to the majors. As he returned to free agency this offseason, he represented an interesting flier a team could take at relatively low risk. Given that Candelario will earn his $13MM salary with Cincinnati this year even after being released, he’ll only cost a club that puts him on the active roster the prorated league minimum, which will come out of what the Reds have to pay him for this year.

The team that decided to take that flier on Candelario is the Angels, who currently figure to enter camp with Yoan Moncada, Vaughn Grissom, and Oswald Peraza in the mix for reps at third base with Nolan Schanuel locked in at first base and some combination of Mike Trout and Jorge Soler expected to handle DH. That seemingly leaves little room for Candelario to make the roster, but it’s certainly possible he could find his way into the mix at one of those positions with a strong performance in camp or an injury or two clearing the way for him to snag a roster spot.

Mariners Acquire Brendan Donovan

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The Mariners, Rays and Cardinals officially announced a three-team deal that sends infielder/outfielder Brendan Donovan to Seattle. The full breakdown is as follows:

  • The Mariners send infielder Ben Williamson to the Rays, as well as prospects Jurrangelo Cijntje and Tai Peete and a competitive balance round B pick (#68 overall) to the Cardinals, receiving infielder/outfielder Brendan Donovan from the Cardinals.
  • The Cardinals send infielder/outfielder Brendan Donovan to the Mariners, getting prospects Jurrangelo Cijntje and Tai Peete plus a competitive balance round B pick (#68 overall) from the Mariners, as well as receiving outfield prospect Colton Ledbetter and a competitive balance round B pick (#72 overall) from the Rays.
  • The Rays send outfield prospect Colton Ledbetter and a competitive balance round B pick (#72 overall) to the Cardinals, receiving infielder Ben Williamson from the Mariners.

A Donovan trade has felt inevitable for quite a while. The Cardinals have been leaning harder into a rebuild this winter. They tried to kick off a reset last offseason but struggled to move their veteran players with no-trade clauses and ended up mostly standing pat. With president of baseball operations John Mozeliak ceding the reins to new president Chaim Bloom after the 2025 campaign, it became clear that the club would push harder to focus on the future.

Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras all had no-trade clauses in their contracts and seemed reluctant to approve deals in the 2024-25 offseason. As last year was winding down, they all publicly expressed a greater openness to playing for new teams in 2026. That has now come to fruition for all three. Gray and Contreras were both traded to the Red Sox, while Arenado landed with the Diamondbacks.

Donovan’s situation was slightly different. Those other three guys were all veterans making eight-figure salaries. Moving them out of St. Louis was partially about slashing the payroll and also about opening up opportunities for younger players as part of the rebuild. Donovan, on the other hand, is still in his arbitration seasons. He will make a relatively modest $5.8MM in 2026 and would be due a raise in 2027.

It wouldn’t be necessary to trade Donovan for financial reasons at that price. But with the Cards expecting their rebuild to last a few years, it made sense to make Donovan available since he’s just two years away from free agency. An extension was another possibility but Donovan is now 29, so he’ll be going into his age-31 season in his first free agent year, and it’s unclear if the Cards will be competitive by then.

Donovan was a case where the St. Louis front office wouldn’t have to worry about the contract and could focus on simply bringing back as much talent as possible. With his modest salary and inability to block trades, the Cards could scour the league to see what teams were willing to pay in terms of prospect capital. Since Donovan can play all over the diamond, with experience at all four infield positions and the outfield corners, almost any contender could fit him onto the roster.

It’s not just defensive versatility that Donovan brings to the table. In his four big league seasons, he has been remarkably consistent with a contact-based approach at the plate. His strikeout rate has been in the 12 to 15% range in each season of his career, during a time when the league average is usually around 22% or so. He has also drawn walks at a rate right around league par. He doesn’t have huge power but has hit at least 10 home runs in each of the past three seasons.

Put it all together and Donovan has a career .282/.361/.411 slash line. That translates to a 119 wRC+, indicating he has been 19% better than league average at the plate overall. Each of his four seasons has ended with a wRC+ between 115 and 127. A consistently above average hitter with an affordable salary who can capably play many different positions made Donovan a good fit for many teams and he reportedly received interest from about half the clubs in the league. He underwent sports hernia surgery in October but that doesn’t seem to have put a damper on his market and there has been no reporting to suggest he won’t be healthy for spring training.

The Mariners certainly stood out as one of the best fits, if not the very best. They went into the winter with some question marks in various positions but also potential internal solutions. They finished 2025 with Jorge Polanco as their regular second baseman and Eugenio Suárez at third. Both became free agents and have since agreed to deals with different clubs, Polanco with the Mets and Suárez the Reds.

Seattle had interest in bringing both back but it also would have been a bit awkward to sign either. Putting Polanco back at second would have blocked Cole Young. He debuted in 2025 and didn’t have immediate success, with a .211/.302/.305 line on the year. However, he may have been held back by a .247 batting average on balls in play, as his 10.9% walk rate and 18.3% strikeout rate were both quite good. The M’s presumably don’t want to give up on him just based on that initial exposure to the big leagues. Middle infield prospect Michael Arroyo is also not far off, having reached Double-A in 2025. Ryan Bliss showed some promise before he spent most of 2025 on the injured list.

At third base, the Mariners already gave some big league time to Williamson last year. He didn’t hit much but got really strong reviews for his glovework, getting credited with eight Defensive Runs Saved in 703 innings. That gave them a glove-first floor at the position.

Meanwhile, they have Colt Emerson lurking. A consensus top 20 prospect coming into 2026, he crushed High-A and Double-A in 2025, getting a late promotion to Triple-A for six games. He could be the long-term shortstop but his glovework is considered a bit behind his bat. With J.P. Crawford signed through 2026, Emerson could theoretically cover third in 2026 and then move over to short for 2027. However, he is only 20 years old and has barely reached Triple-A, so there’s no guarantee of that scenario playing out as scripted.

There’s also a bit of uncertainty in right field, where the Mariners have a cluster of guys including Víctor Robles, Dominic Canzone, Luke Raley and Rob Refsnyder. Robles was injured for most of 2025 and struggled when on the field. The other three guys have mostly found success in platoon roles, Canzone and Raley from the left side and Refsnyder the right.

Take all those situations into account and Donovan’s appeal becomes clear. His multi-positional abilities will allow the club to bounce him around depending on who else is healthy and producing. Perhaps he will start out projected at second base, since that is the position he has played most in his career. But if Young breaks out or Bliss bounces back, Donovan can be moved to third. With Williamson now leaving for Tampa, Donovan could cover the hot corner until Emerson charges forth and takes that spot. If second and third are both taken over by younger guys, then Donovan could see more time in the outfield. As injuries pop up throughout the year, the picture will change and Donovan can shift.

Donovan’s contact approach was likely also a part of the appeal. The Mariners had one of the highest strikeout rates in the majors in both 2023 and 2024, with a 25.9% rate in the former and a 26.8% clip in the latter. They made a concerted effort to get that down in 2025, dropping it to 23.3%, but that was still one of the seven highest rates out of the 30 clubs in the majors.

To get Donovan, the Mariners are dipping into their strong farm system but aren’t giving up any of their top guys. Cijntje, 23 in May, was Seattle’s first-round pick in 2024. The M’s took him 15th overall and signed him with a $4.8809MM bonus.

One of the most unique prospects, Cijntje primarily throws with his right arm but also throws with his left. He can get his fastball to the upper 90s with both arms but his lefty velocity is a tad lower. Basically, he has been working as a traditional righty starter but then occasionally switching to the left side when facing a lefty hitter. The potential outcomes with such a prospect are quite wide, as it’s never really been seen before. Pat Venditte pitched with both arms and was able to carve out a big league career from 2015 to 2020, but as a journeyman reliever.

Cijntje, on the other hand, seems capable of being a big league starter with his right arm. He posted a 3.99 ERA in 108 1/3 minor league innings last year. Baseball America recently ranked him the #7 prospect in a strong Seattle system.

Whether he would still mix in some lefty work in the long run is undetermined. Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reported yesterday that Cijntje would be mostly focusing on his work as a righty in spring training. He was going to still throw as a lefty in some bullpen work but not in games.

The Cardinals will presumably shed some light on what they have in mind for Cijntje, though the team announced him as a right-handed pitcher in their press release. Whether it’s as a switch-pitcher or a traditional righty, he will give them some extra pitching depth, which has been their main target this winter. They also added Richard Fitts and Brandon Clarke in the Gray trade, Hunter Dobbins, Yhoiker Fajardo and Blake Aita in the Contreras deal and then Jack Martinez in the Arenado swap.

Some of those pitchers are immediate candidates for big league work but that shouldn’t be the case with Cijntje. He hasn’t yet reached Triple-A and has only seven starts at the Double-A level. If the switch-pitching experiment were to continue, he should arguably require more development time than a standard prospect, since it would be such an unprecedented path that there’s no map. He won’t be Rule 5 eligible until December of 2027, so the Cards could be very patient if they wanted, especially with the major league club not being competitive in the short term.

Peete, 20, was selected 30th overall in the 2023 draft and signed via a $2.5MM bonus. He has huge tools but also big question marks. In 2025, he got into 125 High-A games. He hit 19 home runs and stole 25 bases but also struck out in 30.6% of his plate appearances. Initially a shortstop who also dabbled at second and third, the Mariners moved him to the outfield last year, mostly in center but also with a decent amount of time in left.

It’s a long-term play with wide error bars but BA recently gave Peete the #10 spot in the Seattle system. The fact that he’s already striking out at such a high rate is worrisome, as hitters generally strike out more as they climb the minor league ladder and face tougher pitching. But his outfield defense is considered strong even though he just moved there, and there’s power in the bat. The ingredients are potentially there but St. Louis will have to be patient since he’s not close to the majors and needs some refinement.

Ledbetter, 24, was a second-round pick of the Rays in 2023. He profiles as a guy who can do a lot of things well but without a standout tool. He played 123 Double-A games last year, hitting seven home runs and stealing 37 bases while playing all three outfield spots. His 9.5% walk rate and 23.9% strikeout rate were both close to normal.

For the Rays, they are giving up Ledbetter and a draft pick but presumably feel Williamson is a worthwhile near-term upgrade to the big league squad, whereas Ledbetter and the pick wouldn’t be helping the team for a few years.

As mentioned, Williamson profiles as a glove-first third baseman, but he also has minor league experience at the middle infield spots. The Rays have one of the best young third basemen in Junior Caminero, who just wrapped up a 45-homer season in his age-21 campaign. His defense wasn’t especially well regarded, so Williamson could perhaps sub in for him late in games for better glovework.

The Rays traded away Brandon Lowe but then replaced him at second base by acquiring Gavin Lux. Hitting from the left side, Lux needs a platoon partner, as he has a career .269/.344/.406 line against righties but .198/.277/.260 against lefties. Williamson is a righty and hit better against southpaws in his debut last year, so perhaps he can help the Rays shield Lux. Williamson also has options and could be sent to the minors if complementing Lux and Caminero doesn’t get him enough playing time.

Ultimately, this deal is about the Mariners making a big upgrade to their team. They just went to the ALCS in 2025 and almost made it to the World Series, before a heartbreaking loss in game seven. Donovan adds to the 2026 and 2027 teams while also giving the club the flexibility to find roles for some of their younger guys who could be long-term pieces. He doesn’t break the bank financially and didn’t require the club to part with any of its best prospects.

The Cardinals cash in a guy who wasn’t going to be much use to them during their rebuild. They’ve added some more young talent to the system and also cleared more playing time for players who could be part of the next competitive cycle, including JJ Wetherholt, Thomas Saggese, Nolan Gorman, Joshua Baez and others. They also picked up two reasonably high draft picks to add a couple more prospects in July. That’ll likely add around $2.5MM to their bonus pool as well.

Further trades are theoretically possible. Lefty reliever JoJo Romero is an impending free agent and a natural trade candidate. He has stayed with the Cardinals thus far, so perhaps they haven’t been bowled over by the offers, which could lead to him staying in St. Louis until the summer deadline. Lars Nootbaar is two years from free agency, like Donovan, but he may begin the season on the injured list due to heel surgery. He has been in some rumors but the Cards may hold him until he shows he’s healthy, then make him available in the summer as well.

Though a Donovan trade has been discussed all winter, it took most of the offseason to come together. Presumably, that’s due to the other participants in the game of musical chairs. The offseason began with free agency offering other infielders, including Suárez and Polanco but also Bo Bichette, Alex Bregman, Luis Arráez and more.

The chairs started filling up in recent weeks. The Cubs reached an agreement with Bregman in mid-January. Not long after, Bichette landed with the Mets. The Giants were reportedly making a strong push for guys like Donovan but also Nico Hoerner of the Cubs and CJ Abrams of the Nationals. Instead, they pivoted to a one-year deal with Arráez this weekend. Suárez lingered unsigned until reaching an agreement with the Reds in recent days.

After the Mariners, the Red Sox were one of the clubs most frequently connected to Donovan. They seem likely to let Marcelo Mayer replace Bregman at third but don’t have a great solution at second base. Reportedly, Donovan wasn’t considered a perfect fit because the lineup is already heavy on lefties, but they now have one less option available. Rumors have been swirling about Isaac Paredes but it’s unclear if the Astros have any willingness to deal him.

Katie Woo and Chad Jennings of The Athletic first reported that the Mariners were close to getting Donovan in what was likely a three-team trade. Jeff Passan of ESPN reported that the Rays were the third team. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that Tampa was expected to get Williamson. Joel Sherman of The New York Post first reported on Cijntje going to the Cards. Adam Jude and Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times first reported Peete going to the Cards. Nightengale first had Tampa sending out a prospect and a comp B pick. Sherman first reported Ledbetter’s inclusion. Nightengale then specified the full breakdown. Passan reported that the agreement was in place and that Seattle was sending the #68 pick to St. Louis.

Photos courtesy of Eakin Howard, Jeff Curry, Kevin Jairaj, Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images

Twins, Matt Bowman Agree To Minor League Contract

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The Twins brought reliever Matt Bowman back to the organization on a minor league contract, according to the MLB.com transaction log. The ZS Sports client will presumably be in camp as a non-roster invitee.

This will be Bowman’s third stint with Minnesota. He signed a minor league deal over the 2023-24 offseason and made the team by the middle of April. He made five appearances before being designated for assignment and traded to the Diamondbacks. Bowman bounced around throughout the ’24 season and circled back to Minnesota on another minor league contract in July. He triggered an opt-out six weeks later and spent the following year with the Orioles and Astros.

The 34-year-old righty made 20 big league appearances for the Orioles last season. He struggled to a 6.20 ERA with a 15.8% strikeout rate over 24 2/3 innings. Although Bowman has never missed many bats, he has traditionally gotten a lot of ground-balls. That wasn’t the case last season, as he had a career-low 35% grounder rate.

Bowman had a better season in Triple-A, where he combined for a 3.93 ERA in 31 appearances. The grounders were still down but he punched out a league average 22.7% of batters faced. Bowman has pitched parts of seven seasons at the top minor league level, turning in a 4.14 ERA in nearly 400 innings.

The Twins sold off essentially all their high-leverage arms at last year’s deadline. They signed old friend Taylor Rogers to a $2MM free agent deal and traded for Eric Orze in a minor swap with the Rays. Rogers might step back into a closer role for which he’s probably miscast at this point of his career. Cole Sands, Justin Topa and Kody Funderburk are ticketed for leverage work. On paper, it’s one of the weakest bullpens in MLB. That affords a good opportunity for non-roster invitees trying to earn a middle relief job. Dan Altavilla and Grant Hartwig have also signed minor league deals this offseason.

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