Inside The Cardinals

Royals Slugger Posts Brendan Donovan Amid Cardinals Trade Rumors

Will the St. Louis Cardinals All-Star get traded this offseason?
Patrick McAvoy|
Sep 16, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Brendan Donovan (33) throws out Cincinnati Reds first baseman Sal Stewart (43) (not pictured) at first base in the sixth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Puetz-Imagn Images
Sep 16, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Brendan Donovan (33) throws out Cincinnati Reds first baseman Sal Stewart (43) (not pictured) at first base in the sixth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Puetz-Imagn Images | Joe Puetz-Imagn Images

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St. Louis CardinalsKansas City Royals

It's hot stove season across Major League Baseball and the St. Louis Cardinals are under a microscope right now because of the volume of trade candidates on the roster.

Even with Sonny Gray no longer with the organization there are plenty of other pieces who could be on the move still. Brendan Donovan, specifically, has become someone for St. Louis fans to keep a close eye on. That's because he has become one of the most talked-about trade candidates in all of baseball.

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Will Brendan Donovan get moved?

St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Brendan Donovan
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

Donovan is the type of player who could help any team in the league. He can play elite defense all over the field and isn't expensive. He should be equally attractive to big market teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees and small market teams like the Kansas City Royals. Kansas City is a team that Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported earlier in the offseason is interested in Donovan.

On Saturday, Royals slugger Vinnie Pasquantino raised some eyebrows by posting a photo in a batting cage with Donovan. Pasquantino posted a photo on his Instagram story with Donovan, and user "Sasquatch Vinnie" shared a screenshot of it on X.

Pasquantino is a star in his own respect. He had 32 homers and 113 RBIs in 2025 in 160 games played. Kansas City is a team with known reported interest in Donovan and now a big-name member of the organization is posting a photo swinging with him in the batting cage. That is the exact type of thing that raises eyebrows at this time of the year.

The offseason is long. It takes up a few months of the year and rumors and speculation dominate the airways. Unlike most of the noise, this is an example of a player from a team with reported interest in Donovan posting a photo with him. Could it be a sign of a deal to come in the near future?

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Patrick McAvoy
PATRICK MCAVOY

Patrick McAvoy's experiences include local and national sports coverage at the New England Sports Network with a focus on baseball and basketball. Outside of journalism, Patrick also is pursuing an MBA at Brandeis University. After quickly rising as one of the most productive writers on the site, he expanded his reach to write for Baseball Essential, a national baseball site in Sports Illustrated Media Group. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding Inside The Cardinals, please reach out to Scott Neville: nevilles@merrimack.edu

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