Inside The Cardinals

Brendan Donovan Received 'Strong Interest' From NL Club Before Mariners Deal

The Cardinals opted to trade Brendan Donovan to the Mariners, but they had interest from other clubs...
Zach Pressnell|
Jul 26, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Brendan Donovan (33) takes a big leadoff from first base against the San Diego Padres at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Vizer-Imagn Images
Jul 26, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Brendan Donovan (33) takes a big leadoff from first base against the San Diego Padres at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Vizer-Imagn Images | Tim Vizer-Imagn Images

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Seattle MarinersSt. Louis CardinalsSan Francisco Giants

The St. Louis Cardinals have made a lot of big moves over the last year. At the trade deadline, they dove into a rebuild by trading expiring relievers Phil Maton, Steven Matz, and Ryan Helsley to a trio of contenders.

They opted to be even more aggressive with their rebuild this offseason. They started off by trading Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras to the Boston Red Sox. They traded Nolan Arenado to the Arizona Diamondbacks a few weeks later.

On Monday, the Cardinals made the biggest move of their offseason when they agreed to a deal that sent All-Star infielder Brendan Donovan to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for a haul of prospects. But the deal didn't come together as smoothly as it seemed. In fact, there were other teams interested in the star infielder.

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In his weekly newsletter, FanSided's Robert Murray reported that the San Francisco Giants pursued Donovan pretty aggressively before he was traded to the Mariners on Monday.

Giants reportedly pursued Brendan Donovan before Mariners deal

St. Louis Cardinals infielder Brendan Donova
Sep 23, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Brendan Donovan (33) collects a ball hit by the San Francisco Giants during the eighth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Eakin Howard-Imagn Images | Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

"The Giants had strong interest in Brendan Donovan and held many conversations with the Cardinals about the All-Star infielder, but were unable to agree to a deal," Murray wrote.

The Giants were connected to Donovan for weeks, but they never swung a deal. There are a few reasons why the Mariners landed Donovan and the Giants didn't.

The Mariners were more desperate than the Giants. Seattle lost two infielders this offseason, including Eugenio Suárez to the Cincinnati Reds the night before it brought in Donovan. The Giants recently signed Luis Arraez to a deal, which seemingly put the nail in the coffin for their pursuit of Donovan.

Seattle also has a better and deeper farm system than San Francisco. The Mariners have stacked up top prospects over the last few years while the Giants haven't been able to bring in as much young talent.

Either way, the Giants' interest is likely one of the reasons the Cardinals were able to land such a haul in the deal.

More MLB: Cardinals Have 1 More Move to Make After Brendan Donovan Stunner

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Zach Pressnell
ZACH PRESSNELL

Zach Pressnell has experience covering all major US sports at both the professional and collegiate levels. He’s produced content for FanSided, Blog Red Machine, The Game Haus, Bethany College Athletics and the Bethany College online newspaper, He graduated from Bethany College (WV) with a degree in Communications and Media Arts, specializing in Sports Journalism. Pressnell was also a four-year member of the baseball team where he earned himself All-PAC recognition as a pitcher (and a cool Tommy John surgery scar). Now, Pressnell specializes in NFL and MLB coverage for Sports Illustrated’s “On SI” network among others. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "St. Louis Cardinals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org

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