Seattle Mariners Have Reportedly Expressed Interest in St. Louis Cardinals Trade Commodity

According to a recent report from Adam Jude of the Seattle Times St. Louis Cardinals utility player Brendan Donovan is drawing trade interest from the Seattle Mariners.

It’s no surprise, as Donovan has been one of the most popular names on the trade market this offseason. In fact, Mariners Roundtable writer Teren Kowatsch wrote earlier on Wednesday about how Donovan was the perfect trade piece for Seattle.

From his piece:

Seattle ranked third in the majors with 238 home runs last season. Catcher Cal Raleigh isn’t likely to hit 60 home runs two seasons in a row, Eugenio Suarez will likely sign elsewhere and the M’s have a lot of competition in free agency for Polanco’s (26 homers) services.

Naylor brings his own fair share of pop (51 home runs the last two seasons) but his strength is his hit-to-contact and on-base potential (.295 BA, .353 OBP). Donovan brings a similar skill set. Both Naylor and Donovan have strikeout rates in the 90-plus percentile of baseball. Naylor has a strikeout rate of 13.7%, which puts him in the 91st percentile of major league hitters, according to Baseball Savant.

Donovan had a strikeout rate of 13%.

The low strikeout rate is one reason by Donovan is so coveted on the market, while his high batting average (.287 in 2025), high on-base percentage (.353) and affordable contract (two years remaining, $5+ million arbitration projection in 2026) are certainly others.

Donovan was an All-Star this past season, also hitting 10 home runs and driving in 50 runs. He carried an OPS+ of 119 and owns a career average of 117.

He’s able to play second base and the outfield. Seattle could use him in both places, but other teams are certainly interested as well.

Recently, Buster Olney of ESPN told the Refuse to Lose podcast (also from Mariners Roundtable) about how much he is a fan of his:

Brendan Donovan is, to me, one of the secret gems in baseball. High on-base, good defender. You know that you always hear the phrase ’ball player.’ A guy who’s a grinder. That’s him. And Alec Burleson is an excellent hitter. And he’s one of these guys who wakes up every day, it’s his personality, he assumes he’s going to get three hits. Like, he looks hitter-ish from the time he steps into the box. And I asked him about that once and he goes, ’yeah, man.’ I mean, he just loves to hit, and he’s a really good hitter. And I think whoever winds up landing him — and again — if the Cardinals are going to go on this full rebuild and trade Arenado and Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras, you might as well move all the guys who only have two or three years left in control to get prospects back.

*Gray has already been traded to the Boston Red Sox.

Because Donovan is under control for two more years, the Cardinals do not have to trade him. They can hold until the trade deadline, or next offseason, and still get a good haul for him. But with the team not expected to compete this season, they may just want to take a good offer if it presents itself.

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Seattle Mariners Have Reportedly Expressed Interest in St. Louis Cardinals Trade Commodity

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