The St. Louis Cardinals have dragged their feet on this current rebuild for some time, and it only finally started getting off the ground once Sonny Gray was dealt to the Boston Red Sox for Brandon Clarke and Richard Fitts.

That still leaves notable figureheads like Nolan Arenado and Willson Contreras as valuable trade candidates, not to mention a number of younger contributors who could be worth quite a bit on the open market. Even if the Cardinals don’t want to trade everyone from their core in one offseason, it’s expected that they’ll blow up the foundation in order to start from scratch.

Naturally, there are a myriad of suitors interested in their cache of veteran talent, and the team could pull off a number of deals to ship each player out individually.

But what if they want to rebuild the farm system with a quality-over-quantity approach? It may be hard to get a lot of Top-100 prospects for individual players on the roster, but what if they combined them?

Well, it just so happens that the Seattle Mariners are interested in a pair of high-profile Cardinals. Might there be some smoke on this fire?

Cardinals could complete JoJo Romero-Brendan Donovan blockbuster with Mariners

The Mariners’ interest in Donovan is well known at this point. They may lose Silver Slugger finalist Jorge Polanco to free agency, and Donovan, who posted a 119 wRC+ while hitting .287/.353/.422 overall on the season, is a near-perfect fit for their needs.

With a Gold Glove in his back pocket and two years of team control remaining via arbitration, Donovan alone would fetch a nice haul in a trade. Add Romero to the mix, and you’ve entered blockbuster territory.

The 29-year-old southpaw was excellent throughout the 2025 season, though he was particularly dominant in the second half, recording a 1.71 ERA while holding opposing hitters to a .209/.298/.252 batting line. He’s a rental due for free agency after the 2026 season, but given that Seattle only has one lefty in their bullpen at present (Gabe Speier), he’d make for an excellent set-up option for closer Andrés Muñoz.

Of course, it’ll help grease the trade wheels that the reigning AL West champs have an elite farm system, headlined by eight(!) Top-100 prospects.

Shortstop Colt Emerson is the true prize as a 20-year-old in Triple-A, but young pitchers Kade Anderson and Ryan Sloan could be of great interest to Chaim Bloom and the Cardinals. If MLB-ready talent is more what St. Louis is searching for, starters Logan Evans or Emerson Hancock could appeal to the front office.

Regardless, the Mariners clearly have the talent and motivation to get a deal done. Romero and Donovan could finally push them over the World Series hump, while a number of their top prospects could help accelerate the Cardinals’ rebuild.

Anyone down for a win-win trade?