One other Tremendous Addition to Their Assortment: Mariners Purchase Brendan Donovan in Three-Crew Swap

The very first thing Chaim Bloom did after taking on baseball operations in St. Louis was commerce away all the things that wasn’t nailed down. Sonny Grey? Thanks in your contributions, now go attempt to win a hoop in Boston. Willson Contreras? Gone, and to the identical group. Nolan Arenado? Thanks for the recollections, benefit from the desert. With these trades sorted, he’s moved on to step two: prying up a few of these aforementioned nails to make extra offers. The latest shoe to drop within the Cardinals retooling could be the largest one, although. Brendan Donovan is now a Seattle Mariner, the important thing piece in a three-team commerce that sends Ben Williamson to Tampa Bay and a heaping serving to of prospects and draft picks to the Cardinals.

Donovan isn’t a family identify like most of the greatest Cardinals of current years, however that has way more to do with the group’s middling success of late than any lack of expertise. His mixture of versatility and offensive firepower calls to thoughts Ben Zobrist, and in contrast to virtually each different versatile defender who will get in comparison with Zobrist, this one truly is smart. Zobrist ran a 121 wRC+ throughout his seven-year peak. Donovan’s profession mark is 119, the identical as his 2025 whole. He’s beneath group management for 2 extra years at an affordable charge, too: $5.8 million this yr, along with his final journey via arbitration set for 2027.

“A plus bat who can play protection in all places” typically isn’t a superb title to have utilized to you. That’s as a result of many of the hitters who obtain that label both aren’t plus bats, don’t play good protection, or each. However as I discussed, that’s not Donovan, and we would as effectively study every of these two expertise, as he’s all the purpose this commerce occurred, the most effective participant going to any of the three golf equipment by a mile.

On offense, Donovan performs like a tough approximation of Steven Kwan. His standout talent is the sort of batting eye/contact combo you’d draw up in a lab. When you throw him one thing exterior of the strike zone, he’s in all probability not going to swing at it. He chased simply 25% of the unhealthy pitches he noticed in 2025, a Seventieth-percentile mark league extensive and coincidentally the worst mark of his profession. When he did swing, he made contact at a Ninety fifth-percentile clip, with a swinging strike charge lower than half the large league common. That implies that he takes a good variety of walks though pitchers have little interest in giving him a free move.

Like I mentioned, that’s principally Steven Kwan. The distinction is that Donovan swings the bat six ticks sooner on common. He posts league common exit velocities because of a respectably quick bat and an absolute mountain of bat management, along with his squared-up charge within the 96th percentile. Let’s put it this fashion: Donovan has a profession 42.4% hard-hit charge. Kwan has a profession charge of 20%, whereas Luis Arraez checks in at 26%. That mixture implies that Donovan’s line drives skip previous outfielders and to the wall much more regularly than his less-powerful brethren. His profession .130 ISO isn’t precisely gaudy – the league common hovers round .160 – but it surely’s spectacular within the context of the remainder of his offensive expertise.

Even higher for the Mariners, Donovan appears to be like to me like a stable match for his or her park. T-Cell is brutal for hitters, but it surely’s much less punishing for lefties, significantly lefties who get quite a lot of worth from singles and doubles. It’s not even so cavernous that he can’t hit homers there; Busch Stadium is harder for lefty residence run hitters. The most important factor that makes T-Cell a pitcher’s park is how far more regularly hitters strike on the market. I really can’t let you know precisely why that’s — theories abound — however figuring out that’s the issue, I don’t hate a man who simply doesn’t strike out as an answer.

Hitting someplace close to the highest of the order, Donovan goes to place opponents in a bind. He will get on base a ton. He hits for a excessive sufficient common, and does sufficient injury, that simply lobbing the ball down the center isn’t an incredible counter. With no less than certainly one of Cal Raleigh or Julio Rodríguez presumably lurking behind him, letting him attain base goes to really feel very unhealthy. We’re projecting him because the fourth-best Mariners hitter, behind these two and Josh Naylor, however I’ll go forward and name it now: Donovan goes to be the hitter that pitchers are most irritated to face. Snap off three excellent sliders towards Raleigh or Rodríguez, and you may in all probability get them out. Snap off three excellent sliders towards Donovan, and it’s in all probability a 2-1 rely.

Whereas Donovan’s offensive upside is apparent, his defensive worth is extra nebulous. Sure, he received a Gold Glove in 2022, but it surely was the utility Gold Glove that appears to typically simply reward guys who play a number of positions, reasonably than guys who play a number of positions effectively. He’s performed extra second base than another place within the majors, and he’s roughly common there: -5 DRS, +1 FRV. He’s been good in a small pattern at third, unhealthy in a small pattern at first, and “wait, what why are you even making an attempt this?” in an excellent smaller pattern at brief.

His second-most-frequent place isn’t any of these infield spots, however left subject. I feel he’s an sufficient outfield defender, although our fashions are combined: DRS thinks he’s been two runs above common in his 1,450 innings, whereas Statcast’s FRV thinks he’s been 5 runs under common. So far as I’m involved, I wouldn’t wish to play him on the market however wouldn’t really feel terrible if I needed to. Actually, that virtually describes Donovan in all places on the diamond: remarkably competent.

In Seattle, that’s going to imply a heaping serving to of third base to start out out. We had Williamson atop the depth chart there earlier than this commerce, and never a lot behind him. Donovan is a simple substitution on the scorching nook, however he can do greater than that. Cole Younger is coming into the yr with the within monitor on the second base job, however he additionally appeared overmatched on the plate in his 77-game main league debut final yr. J.P. Crawford’s fielding is headed south, and he’s extra of an offensive contributor than a key fielder nowadays. That offense cratered within the second half final yr, although, so the long run appears to be like unsure. Prime shortstop prospect Colt Emerson is knocking on the door, however we aren’t certain if he’ll stick at brief long-term, and he’d be a greater match at third than at second.

In different phrases, the infield is an advanced mixture of shifting items, an intricate puzzle to be solved. What higher solution to deal with that than with a man who performs in all places? Irrespective of who the odd man out is, there’s in all probability some configuration involving Donovan that works. That’s nice information for a Mariners group that needed to play some dicey bats to make their infield protection work in 2025. They handed 684 plate appearances to the mixture of Williamson, Dylan Moore, and Donovan Solano final yr, and acquired an 80 wRC+ and meh protection within the combination for his or her hassle. That’s a Donovan-sized gap that will add one thing like three wins if stuffed with the real article.

To make that giant improve, the Mariners despatched the Playing cards two intriguing younger prospects, Jurrangelo Cijntje and Tai Peete, in addition to a Comp Spherical B decide. The headliner of the deal is Cijntje, a 2024 first spherical decide who’s most notable for his switch-pitching. He has monster potential as a righty, sitting within the higher 90s with a nasty fastball and secondaries that flash very effectively at instances. As a lefty, he’s extra of a matchup man; decrease 90s, inconsistent form on his secondaries, intermittent command issues. He’s a 22-year-old who’s doing one thing that just about nobody has ever completed, so it’s hardly stunning that he’s nonetheless creating, however proper now he appears to be like like a righty starter plus somewhat novelty worth. The Mariners had been reportedly planning on utilizing him as a righty to start out spring coaching, and it wouldn’t shock me to see the identical in St. Louis.

That’s a superb addition to their steady of younger pitching prospects, and I’d put him second on that checklist behind solely Liam Doyle, the fifth decide in final yr’s draft. Cijntje is an exceptional athlete who has the aptitude to enhance just about throughout the board, however he’s nonetheless a piece in progress. As Brendan Gawlowski put it in Cijntje’s write-up for our current Mariners prospect checklist, “Catch him on the appropriate day and also you may put a no. 2 grade on him. However he’s inconsistent, maybe not unexpectedly given what number of reps he’s misplaced. His velo can dip mid-outing, and… he’ll lose his launch level and begin spraying the ball in all places however the goal.” Regardless of his intermittent command, he racked up gaudy strikeout numbers in his first professional season by outstuffing individuals, to borrow Brendan’s phrase. If he doesn’t have the command to be a starter, he has the stuff to shut as a righty, after which there’s nonetheless the entire switch-pitching factor. In different phrases, there’s quite a lot of variance sooner or later outcomes right here.

Do I understand how the Cardinals will use him? I don’t also have a clue. Seattle struggled with this actual query final yr. Whereas he’s clearly higher as a righty, that also leaves quite a lot of choices. Is he a righty starter plus a lefty reliever, however solely separately? An ambidextrous nearer? A righty starter who’s his personal LOOGY? A real switch-pitcher who wears a six-fingered glove to the mound and goes all Pat Venditte on guys? The almost definitely final result is the boring one — a righty starter with minimal lefty pitching — however there’s an opportunity that he finally ends up being very enjoyable. He’s a 50 FV prospect on The Board, and I like the percentages of him creating somewhat bit higher than that.

Peete was a first-rounder a yr earlier than Cijntje as a excessive schooler out of Georgia. He’s additionally an exceptional athlete, with plus uncooked energy, a robust arm, and straightforward plus pace. He took up heart subject as an expert and appeared superb within the outfield in 2025. There’s only one downside: his bat management. Now, the hit device is simply one of many 5 instruments, but it surely’s certainly crucial one. Peete has struck out round 30% of the time, and he’s completed that very persistently throughout a number of ranges. As Brendan famous, it’s the scary sort of strikeout downside, too: a 44% whiff charge towards breaking pitches, huge non-competitive hacks at fastballs out of the zone, all the things you possibly can think about. Again after I used to hunt for breakout prospect picks, I cared so much about strikeouts on the decrease ranges. When you’re swinging and lacking that usually towards 20-year-olds, the majors could be out of the query.

The counter to that’s that information can lie. Certain, batters who strike out 30% of the time in A-ball normally don’t pan out. However these batters are typically unhealthy. I imply, clearly – they’re placing out so much within the low minors. Groups draft a lot of gamers who even they don’t suppose will attain the majors. They provide quite a lot of taking part in time to lengthy pictures and improvement initiatives. Peete’s cohort of whiff-prone minor leaguers virtually definitely appears to be like nothing like him. He’s a tooled-out first rounder who may have the ability to contribute within the majors even when he by no means hits. It’s affordable to present him somewhat grace right here. Certain, most gamers like him don’t develop their offense sufficient to hit main league pitching, but when he does, the upside is big. We’ve got him as a 40+ FV, however with enormous error bars; there are detailed write-ups of each him and Cijntje on that aforementioned Mariners checklist.

Oh yeah! The Rays acquired in on this commerce too, as they’re wont to do. They despatched Colton Ledbetter and a Comp Spherical B decide of their very own to the Cardinals and acquired Williamson from Seattle in change. Let’s cowl the St. Louis facet first, simply to get that out of the way in which. Ledbetter is a 24-year-old outfielder who will possible begin 2026 in Double-A. Right here’s Eric Longenhagen on the final participant St. Louis is receiving:

After two underclass seasons at Samford, Ledbetter made a profitable transition to the SEC with Mississippi State in 2023 and was Tampa’s second spherical decide. He hit for energy at Excessive-A Bowling Inexperienced (45 extra-base hits in 109 video games, .484 SLG), however struck out at an alarming 28.3% clip. He lower his strikeout charge to 23.9% at Double-A Montgomery in 2025, however misplaced the attractive energy (simply seven homers, .378 SLG), partially because of the hitting surroundings of the Southern League. Ledbetter goes to swing beneath quite a lot of fastballs and be a below-average contact hitter within the huge leagues, however he has extra-base energy to all fields towards pitches within the backside two thirds of the zone. It’s not enormous uncooked energy, extra common, however Ledbetter has really feel for getting beneath the baseball and goes to spray quite a lot of doubles.

Although he’s performed some heart subject, he’s not speedy sufficient to be a group’s main heart fielder and may play within the corners (principally proper subject). There are quite a lot of flawed part-time outfielders with comparable strikeout points, however who’ve extra energy than Ledbetter (a comparatively maxed out 24-year-old) has or is apt to have. So I think about him a lesser, 1-ish WAR model of a platoon outfielder, a 40-FV prospect. He’ll be competing for a 40-man spot all through 2026.

A Comp Spherical B comes between the second and third rounds of the draft, with the Cardinals slated to obtain picks 68 and 72. The slot worth round there’s about $1.25 million, and that makes it a useful commerce commodity, whether or not the Playing cards wish to improve the scale of their draft pool by taking somebody underslot there and splashing the cash elsewhere, or simply plan to draft the most effective participant obtainable. The underslot plan will get so much higher with two of those picks – an additional $2 million and alter is a significant quantity of overslot cash to supply. Comp Spherical B picks from current years have changed into 40/40+ FV gamers on common, in order that’s an honest rule of thumb for those who’re making an attempt to transform picks into prospect phrases you’re extra used to, however I feel the worth is larger than that. They’re a pleasant addition to the commerce, and I’d worth both fairly near the place I worth Peete, however clearly under Cijntje.

Williamson’s inclusion within the deal makes quite a lot of sense for the Rays as they attempt to patch collectively a wierd mixture of infielders. He appears to be like to me like an elite defensive third baseman, and our prospect group and DRS concur. He’s primarily performed third as an expert, however I feel that’s as a result of the Mariners had just a few choices blocking him at second, and the Rays have traditionally been very open to shifting defenders across the infield.

That’s good for just a few causes. First, the apparent place they’ll use Williamson is as a platoon companion for fellow current three-team-trade acquisition Gavin Lux. Lux is a mediocre defensive second baseman with huge platoon splits. Williamson isn’t a superb hitter, however Lux has a profession 54 wRC+ towards lefties. Williamson’s bat can be an improve on that, and his glove can be an enormous assist too.

Second, there’s no less than some probability that the Rays are getting out of the Taylor Partitions enterprise. Partitions makes me query my sanity yearly, and I guess the Rays really feel comparable confusion at instances. He’s a plus defender, however in a method that Statcast’s defensive metrics simply don’t purchase. Then again, his +17 protection at brief in solely 720 innings (DRS’ estimate) isn’t credible both. Baseball Prospectus’ RDA has him someplace within the center, and that appears affordable to me, however make no mistake, it is a tough defensive analysis.

Then again, the offensive analysis is straightforward: He stinks. Partitions has a profession 70 wRC+, a career-high mark of 84, and a profession .195/.286/.298 slash line for those who’re not a giant wRC+ fan. In different phrases, he’s an offensive black gap. At age 29, there’s not quite a lot of hope that he’s going to enhance. His stroll charge plummeted in 2025 when pitchers realized he has a profession .104 ISO and began flooding the zone; you possibly can think about issues tilting even farther from right here. In different phrases, a backup plan appears smart. Now, the long-term backup plan isn’t even actually a backup, it’s high prospect Carson Williams. He had a tough 2025, although, and his 40% strikeout charge in a 100-plate look cup of espresso implies that the Rays in all probability shouldn’t rely on him breaking out early in 2026. Williamson won’t have a lot skilled expertise at shortstop, however I’m fairly certain Tampa Bay will no less than attempt him there.

I’m in all probability singing Williamson’s praises somewhat an excessive amount of right here. Like Partitions, there’s an honest change that he can’t hit main league pitching for lengthy. When you suppose Partitions didn’t hit for a lot energy final yr, wait till I let you know about Williamson’s .058 ISO and one homer in 295 plate appearances. However he’s a pleasant rotational infielder, and Tampa Bay loves its good rotational infielders. I don’t suppose this is similar sort of coup for them that the Lux deal was, however I recognize what they’re doing right here by shaping their roster within the route they need by stepping in as a intermediary within the commerce to make one group’s return (St. Louis’, on this case) match up extra carefully with their coronary heart’s want.

Talking of what the Cardinals most want, it’s time for some commerce grades. The Rays get a B- from me, which works out. I consider their group as a machine for turning barely constructive EV selections into huge edges, principally aiming for as many B- offers as doable. Small edges are solely small in the event that they don’t compound. This matches just about completely into their technique – however because it impacts their franchise meaningfully lower than the 2 different groups within the commerce, they get solely a brief paragraph.

The Cardinals appear to be they’re not going to cease till the foremost league roster is devoid of contributors who’re approaching free company. Donovan was the prize of their hoard of commerce chips, they usually opted for a return that’s amount over high quality however has a transparent headliner. Cijntje is dangerous however he has an enormous ceiling, the precise sort of pitcher the Cardinals appear to be aiming for as they rebuild their farm system. Peete and Ledbetter are extra within the dart throw vein, however as I really like mentioning in these commerce evaluations, one of the best ways to be good at dart throws is by throwing quite a lot of darts. Two Comp Spherical B picks imply that the Playing cards are going to have a ton of draft flexibility; whereas they draft thirteenth this yr, they may feasibly attempt to float somebody from the highest 5 with all the additional bonus cash they’ll provide because of their expanded pool. Add all of it up, and I feel that the Cardinals acquired truthful worth for Donovan – my surplus worth mannequin has them popping out forward, however that’s just about at all times the case whenever you commerce the most effective participant in a deal that options 5 gamers and two draft picks.

The Mariners, in the meantime, have pulled off a nifty little renovation. Between Naylor and Donovan, they’ve made their offense so much OBP-heavier than it had been, and stacking OBP may be very useful when you have already got a superb offense. Cijntje was a wierd match on a group with elite starters already; Donovan goes to be phenomenally extra helpful to them. Williamson is a useful main leaguer, however he was getting squeezed by the prospects developing behind him and Donovan’s arrival, so he was expendable. Peete is the type of man who will get moved to rebuilders from contenders: tooled up, inconsistent, and possibly in want quite a lot of taking part in time to determine what’s there. It’s a basic case the place a dime and 4 nickels are much less helpful to the Mariners than 1 / 4. You’ll be able to’t lean on this route too regularly, however I feel that this was a superb time for Seattle to make use of minor leaguers who weren’t within the group’s rapid plans to chase short-term enchancment.

In order that’s the deal. The Rays get some wanted insurance coverage on the infield. The Cardinals start the a part of their rebuild the place they take the roster right down to the studs, all whereas hoping Cijntje’s upside will elevate the ceiling. And the Mariners? They reinforce the highest of their lineup with Donovan, who our personal Davy Andrews has in comparison with a breakfast nook. Not that I’m certain the nickname will stick.