Cardinals' Chaim Bloom Clears Air on Brendan Donovan Buzz

St. Louis Cardinals All-Star utility man Brendan Donovan has been the subject of endless trade rumors this offseason.

On Sunday, president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom joined "Sports on a Sunday Morning with Tom Ackerman" on KMOX St. Louis and cleared the air on all of the noise.

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"Those mentions are obviously understandable given just where we are and the things that we have been doing," Bloom said. "Obviously the player, the person. Everybody has heard me say all of the wonderful things that I have to say about him and none of those have obviously changed on-field/off-field. He's everything you'd want to have in your uniform. That's why we're placing a really high value on him and also doing our jobs and listening.

The Cardinals boss opened up

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

"When it comes to the market, it has been interesting the way this offseason has gone where you have kind of seen this more recent flurry. And a little bit of a late flurry where it's usually not around Winter Warm-Up that some of the biggest offseason signings and the week to follow, big trades happen. Every offseason has a little bit of a different pace. This one has had a period of high activity and then periods where it feels like you're sitting around waiting. Look, as much as we want to keep our ears open, we also want to make sure that we're doing right by the organization. In this case, if we were to contemplate something with [Brendan Donovan], obviously we'd place a pretty high price tag, given all of those things that I said about the player he is and how much he means to us.

"Certainly not something where we're necessarily looking to do it. Again, just us being responsible and doing our jobs, especially given where we are and all of those goals that we have over the long haul. All that said, as we get closer to Spring Training, you don't want to let this drag out one way or another. We don't want uncertainty or a lack of clarity hanging over our camp. ... Not something that we are proactively looking to do, just us being responsive to interest in our players as we would with anybody."

Bloom was open and candid about the All-Star. From his comments, it sounds like the team isn't actively looking to move Donovan, but if the right offer comes in, they will consider a move. But it certainly sounds like less of a guarantee than some national reports would make it sound.

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