MLB Trade Rumors: 3 Trade Destinations for Cardinals All-Star Brendan Donovan
In the middle of his first All-Star season, well-rounded St. Louis Cardinals' infielder/outfielder Brendan Donovan's name was on the rumor as the trade deadline approached this season. They held onto him, but it's quite likely he could be dealt this offseason, according to insider Robert Murray.
Under team control for another three seasons, coming off a reasonable $2.85 million salary this year, Donovan's incredible consistency and overall skill set is hard to find. In each of the last three seasons, his batting average has hovered between .278 and .284, his on-base percentage between .342 and .365, his slugging has ranged from .407 to .422, and his OPS+ has been exactly 114 in each of those seasons (pending the outcome of this year). He's played second base, shortstop and left field.
And defensively, he has a Gold Glove already (at the Utility Position, fittingly, in 2022).
The Fansided insider has listed three teams that are the most likely destinations for Donovan:
The Dodgers in 2024 already brought over another all-purpose type player from St. Louis in Tommy Edman, but Donovan is much more of an offensive threat. He would, in fact, be an improvement at second base over Edman, and would undoubtedly be a huge step up on Michael Conforto in left. (Yes, Conforto has heated up a bit over the last week or two, but he's still under the Mendoza Line).
The Yankees have a lot of multi-positional players around the infield, and perhaps they could look for another consistent two-way player like Donovan to add to the mix. His best positions, however, on the infield, are pretty much spoken for, with second base clearly being Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s best spot on the field, and Ryan McMahon signed for another couple of years at third. In left field, will they be able to keep Cody Bellinger? Donovan would be a nice, cheap fallback option, unless they're ready to commit to prospect Spencer Jones.
With Jesus Sanchez, raw rookie Zach Cole and the defensively inept (in left field) Jose Altuve being the main options in that corner for the Astros, Donovan would be a very nice player to plug in there. He'd also give them protection at third if/when Carlos Correa hits the injured list.
There will no doubt be other teams with great interest in dealing for Donovan, if the Cardinals finally do decide to pull the trigger and move him.
Photo: © Joe Puetz-Imagn Images
