Cardinals, Red Sox May Not Match Up On 3rd Major Trade

If the St. Louis Cardinals are indeed going to trade second baseman Brendan Donovan in the coming weeks, they'll want every prospective suitor to remain engaged.

One of those rumored suitors throughout the winter has been the Boston Red Sox, with whom the Cardinals have already made two trades since November. A pair of three-time All-Stars, starting pitcher Sonny Gray and first baseman Willson Contreras, both went to Boston in exchange for a haul of young pitching.

Gray and Contreras fit exactly what the Red Sox needed, though. From a positional perspective, so does Donovan, but the fit there falls apart the closer you examine it.

If you like our content, choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google.

Why Donovan probably doesn't make sense for Boston

Sep 7, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Since the Red Sox missed out on re-signing Alex Bregman, one might think their urgency to pick up Donovan might increase. That fails to account, however, for Donovan's relatively poor fit for the Boston lineup compared to a right-handed bat of similar value.

On Wednesday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic suggested that Boston's interest in the lefty-hitting Donovan could even be waning in the wake of Bregman's absence, due to the Chicago Cubs potentially being willing to deal righty-hitting second baseman Nico Hoerner.

"Brendan Donovan figures to be less appealing to the Sox, who already feature a surplus of left-handed hitters," Rosenthal wrote. "The team wants to create opportunity for one of those players, Marcelo Mayer, at second or third base. Mayer, 23, had only 136 plate appearances last season before undergoing season-ending right wrist surgery."

If Boston is out on Donovan, the Cardinals should still have ample suitors. The San Francisco Giants were reported to have a strong interest in both Donovan and Hoerner on Tuesday, and the Seattle Mariners and Kansas City Royals are still in the picture as well.

Clearly, though, Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom is comfortable dealing with the Red Sox, his old team. It will be interesting to see if moving Nolan Arenado to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday speeds up the Donovan timeline.

More MLB: Mets, Cardinals Linked In Potential Trade Involving 5-Year Veteran