What a Brendan Donovan Trade Would Look Like

Now that the Cardinals have moved Sonny Gray, Brendan Donovan might be the next one out, but what the return for the Cardinals look like? Today, I’ll be taking a closer look at which players the Cardinals should target, and what they can realistically expect in return, for Donovan.

If you are going to trade away Donovan, you better make sure you get a haul (the best scenario prospects and a guy on the 40-man roster with some upside) back.

Getting a haul is also about finding the right team to trade Donovan to. Rumored suitors like the Yankees, Dodgers, Phillies, and Mariners work because they have prospects and major league talent to trade you. However, potential fits such as the Giants, Rangers, Padres, or Royals either don’t have prospects or a guy on the 40-man roster with some upside, or they are not willing to trade one of the two.

The Cardinals should target a prospect/player who is very versatile defensively like Donovan was. If they wanted to get some major league talent back, they should shoot for someone like (but a little better than) Willi Castro. Although Willi Castro is a free agent, I think he’s a good comparison to who the Cardinals should try and trade for (along with other players, don‘t get me wrong).

The Cardinals also NEED to get multiple prospects in return. They don’t necessarily need to get a big leaguer (although it would be nice), but they need to receive a couple of prospects in return. Let’s pretend that they get 2 or 3 prospects in return. I think that they should target AT LEAST one of the prospects being in top 100 prospect list (according to MLB pipeline). They could also hold out for 2 top 100 prospects/one top 50 prospect. I did already propose a trade, but here are the prospects I mentioned in that article that the Cardinals could target. The prospects I listed in that article that the Cardinals could trade Donovan for were Lazaro Montes (Mariners’ No. 3 prospect), 2B Brock Rodden (Mariners’ No. 22 prospect), and RHP Camden Lohman. A few other prospects they could target if they wanted to shoot for the stars are Michael Arroyo (Mariners’ No. 5 prospect), and Aiden Miller (Phillies’ No. 2 prospect)

Something else that crossed my mind is that maybe the Cardinals would want to ask for some cash just to bolster the budget a little. If they trade away Arenado, teams are going to ask for some cash to cover Arenado’s salary, and acquiring a little cash from trading away Donovan can go a long way. Even if teams don’t ask for cash along with Arenado, the cash they (could) acquire might just go toward the budget, which is always helpful for a team.

Donovan is a free agent under in 2028 (Arenado is the same), so he’s still very young and controllable. That’s why this year is the perfect year to trade him. Waiting until next season would make him a rental, and diminish his value significantly. Donovan‘s still in his arbitration years (until here’s a free agent in 2028), making his value miles above Arenado, since Arenado’s contract is expensive and guaranteed.

Let’s now look at a possible mock trade. Since I already proposed a mock trade of Brendan Donovan to the Mariners, let’s see what the Dodgers could offer.

Dodgers receive:
Brendan Donovan

Cardinals receive:
2B/SS/3B Alex Freeland (Dodgers No. 4, MLB No. 45)
SS Emil Morales (Dodgers No. 7, MLB No. 100)
RHP Ben Casparius

Let’s hope that‘s a trade both teams would accept.

Thanks for reading!