May 16, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Brendan Donovan (33) hits a double during the fourth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Brendan Donovan Trade Fallout Reveals Cardinals' Sticking Point

Originally posted on St. Louis Cardinals on SI
By Patrick McAvoy | Last updated Feb 3, 2026 8:00 PM ET

The St. Louis Cardinals certainly haven't been messing around this offseason.

When president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom took over the organization, he made it clear that the team was going to be looking around with an eye towards the future. The team made similar statements last offseason, but didn't end up making any big trades. That cannot be said about the club this offseason. Bloom has delivered.

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The Cardinals said they were going to be looking around and they got done three separate trades with players that had no-trade clauses in Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras. On top of those three deals, the Cardinals traded Brendan Donovan to the Seattle Mariners on Monday in a three-team trade that brought back three prospects and two draft picks to St. Louis.

The Cardinals swung a great deal

Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

Of the four deals, Donovan actually was the guy who was the most popular in trade talks throughout the offseason. A handful of teams were linked to him including the Mariners, San Francisco Giants, Kansas City Royals and Boston Red Sox, among others. But it wasn't a guarantee that Donovan was going to be moved as recently as last week. FanSided's Robert Murray noted on Jan. 26 that the Cardinals didn't feel like they had to get a deal done unless they were blown away by an offer.

On Tuesday, Bloom talked about the deal and acknowledged that it wouldn't have gotten done if the team hadn't landed two Competitive Balance B picks along with the three prospects, as shared by MLB.com's John Denton.

"They're obviously really important. The deal would not have happened without their inclusion," Bloom said, as transcribed by Denton. "Obviously, as I talked about all off season, we wanted to set a bar pretty high if we were going to contemplate something like this (Donovan trade). As much as we are thinking long term there still should be a pretty high bar when you have someone who's as valuable as Brendan, and the value of those shots in the top 100 picks of the draft are real. Obviously, it's on us now to maximize them."

Throughout the offseason, various prospects were floated as fits for the Cardinals, including Jurrangelo Cijntje, who St. Louis landed. But the idea of landing not just one, but two high-value draft picks almost never was speculated about.

It's tough to see Donovan go, but getting three prospects and two high draft picks is a great value.

This article first appeared on St. Louis Cardinals on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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