Brendan Donovan Market Taking Shape As Cardinals Rumors Heat Up

If there was one player that St. Louis Cardinals fans should be paying attention this offseason, it would be Brendan Donovan.

He has been talked about all offseason to this point. Donovan had a phenomenal 2025 season that saw him slash .287/.353/.422 with 10 homers, 50 RBIs, three stolen bases, 32 doubles, and 64 runs scored in 118 games played. In 2025, Donovan got most of his playing time at second base, but also got a bit of time at shortstop and left field.

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The reason why Donovan is such a hot commodity this offseason on the trade block is that he can play well all over the field and is cost-controlled for two seasons. The rumors have been very loud around Donovan throughout the offseason to this point. In the aftermath of the winter meetings, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch dropped arguably the most intriguing nugget of the Donovan sweepstakes so far.

The Cardinals are listening

Sep 23, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Brendan Donovan (33) celebrates his double against the San Francisco Giants during the fifth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Eakin Howard-Imagn Images | Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

"While the Cardinals continued to focus their talks on the returns they seek for All-Star Brendan Donovan, the industry took note of the demand for an infielder like him, and unsurprisingly, other names started to surface as potentially available for trade," Goold wrote. Arizona has been entertaining interest in former MVP runner-up Ketel Marte, and the Tampa Bay Rays are open to offers for infielder Brandon Lowe. Donovan fits snuggly between the two with two years of control to Lowe’s one and production at higher value than either Lowe’s $11 million salary or the remainder of Marte’s $116.5 million extension signed in the past year...

"With teams like the Royals, Giants, Mariners and others showing consistent interest in Donovan — and at least two of the teams open to including starting pitching in the return — the Cardinals left the winter meetings progressing on possible deals."

The part that fans should be paying attention to specifically is the "...at least two of the teams open to including starting pitching in the return."

While he didn't note specifically which teams are willing to trade pitching, the Kansas City Royals have two young hurlers very much worth attention in Cole Ragans and Kris Bubic. The Seattle Mariners are loaded with pitching, including Logan Gilbert, Bryan Woo, George Kirby, and Bryce Miller. If either of these two teams is willing to include pitching in a deal for Donovan and any of these six hurlers are on the table, St. Louis absolutely should be listening.

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