The St. Louis Cardinals have made a lot of big moves over the last year. At the trade deadline, they dove into a rebuild by trading expiring relievers Phil Maton, Steven Matz, and Ryan Helsley to a trio of contenders.
They opted to be even more aggressive with their rebuild this offseason. They started off by trading Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras to the Boston Red Sox. They traded Nolan Arenado to the Arizona Diamondbacks a few weeks later.
On Monday, the Cardinals made the biggest move of their offseason when they agreed to a deal that sent All-Star infielder Brendan Donovan to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for a haul of prospects. But the deal didn’t come together as smoothly as it seemed. In fact, there were other teams interested in the star infielder.
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In his weekly newsletter, FanSided’s Robert Murray reported that the San Francisco Giants pursued Donovan pretty aggressively before he was traded to the Mariners on Monday.
Giants reportedly pursued Brendan Donovan before Mariners deal
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
“The Giants had strong interest in Brendan Donovan and held many conversations with the Cardinals about the All-Star infielder, but were unable to agree to a deal,” Murray wrote.
The Giants were connected to Donovan for weeks, but they never swung a deal. There are a few reasons why the Mariners landed Donovan and the Giants didn’t.
The Mariners were more desperate than the Giants. Seattle lost two infielders this offseason, including Eugenio Suárez to the Cincinnati Reds the night before it brought in Donovan. The Giants recently signed Luis Arraez to a deal, which seemingly put the nail in the coffin for their pursuit of Donovan.
Seattle also has a better and deeper farm system than San Francisco. The Mariners have stacked up top prospects over the last few years while the Giants haven’t been able to bring in as much young talent.
Either way, the Giants’ interest is likely one of the reasons the Cardinals were able to land such a haul in the deal.
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