Projecting Cardinals-Giants Mock Trade Centered On Brendan Donovan

The Cardinals could pull this off.

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 St. Louis Cardinals still have a lot of work left to do this offseason. The calendar has flipped to 2026, and after trading Willson Contreras and Sonny Gray, more moves should be expected from Chaim Bloom in his first offseason as president of baseball operations.

Their top trade chip is by far Brendan Donovan, who has two years of club control remaining. But that timeline does not exactly line up well with the Cardinals next window of contention.

The San Francisco Giants were one of the top suitors for him, according to Katie Woo, and this potential trade package could be enough for St. Louis to part with the 2025 All-Star.

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A Cardinals-Giants Trade For Brendan Donovan

Sep 15, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Brendan Donovan (21) take his position against the Cincinnati Reds in the sixth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Puetz-Imagn Images | Joe Puetz-Imagn Images

Above all else, the Cardinals really need young pitching on their roster and in their farm system. This potential trade allows them to further stock up on young and controllable arms that could help them immediately or in the near future.

Blade Tidwell, the Giants’ No. 13 prospect, came over in the Tyler Rogers deal with the New York Mets. He has already made his Major League debut, so he could easily slot right into the Cardinals’ rotation.

The same can be said for Carson Whisenhunt, San Francisco’s No. 7 prospect. He went 2-1 with a 5.01 ERA in five starts with the Giants in 2025. Keyner Martinez still has a few years to go before being Major League ready, but the Giants’ No. 10 prospect went 5-2 with a 2.21 ERA in 11 starts and 10 relief appearances in 2025 at the minor league level.

This would be a haul for St. Louis, which is what they need to in order to move forward with their rebuild. They aren’t expected to contend in 2026, so dealing Donovan makes sense, especially if it can bring back a big haul such as this.

Pitching was the Cardinals’ downfall in 2025, but with a little extra youth and more options to fill spots in the rotation and throughout the farm system, they should be in much better shape in that department heading into the 2026 season.

It will be interesting to see what the Cardinals can get for Donovan if they do indeed decide to trade him. They want the possible return.

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