Cardinals are all but daring Mariners to give up on a Brendan Donovan trade

If the Seattle Mariners are ever going to trade for Brendan Donovan, it feels like it needs to be sooner rather than later. And simply going off the vibes right now, it seems the same can be said about the Mariners moving on whatever Plan Bs they might have.

For the umpteenth time, the Mariners are the perfect trading partner for the St. Louis Cardinals. Donovan fits in Seattle as a versatile infielder and top-of-the-order hitter, and trading with the Mariners means a chance for the Cardinals to get at a farm system that has a league-high seven top-100 prospects, according to MLB Pipeline.

That it hasn't happened yet could tell us that the Mariners aren't high on Donovan, but in no way does that seem to be the case. They have been repeatedly linked to the 2025 All-Star, with trade negotiations characterized as "lengthy" by Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times in late December.

Cardinals might as well tell Mariners to pursue Brendan Donovan alternatives

The real hold-up seems to be on the Cardinals' end, where Chaim Bloom reportedly values Donovan as a star and doesn't want to settle for less on a trade package. In an appearance on MLB Network on Friday, Katie Woo of The Athletic reiterated that message:

For his part, Bloom has said he wants resolution on Donovan one way or the other by the start of spring training. More recently, he characterized trading Donovan as more of a choice than a necessity.

Frankly, one hesitates to buy that the Cardinals aren't motivated to trade Donovan. Bloom took over the front office last fall with a mandate to rebuild. This has resulted in trades of Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras and Nolan Arenado, leaving Donovan as the club's most valuable remaining asset. And as a 29-year-old with only two years of club control left, he's not a long-term building block.

One also hesitates to buy that Donovan is, in fact, a star. He's been a 2-ish WAR player over the last three seasons, with a strong floor based on solid defense and on-base skills, but a low ceiling because of his lack of standout power and speed. As a Mariner, he'd probably be the seventh-best hitter in the lineup.

A guy like that is worth, say, switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje, who checks boxes as an expendable prospect and a high-profile talent who reportedly interests St. Louis. But if it was that simple, well, you'd expect a deal would have already been done by now.

Instead, this seems more and more like a case of the Cardinals committing to the bit of treating Donovan like a star worthy of not just a fair return, but a haul. That's their prerogative, but it could end up being a blatant misreading of his market — especially if they push hard enough to drive the Mariners away.

Seattle only has so many other options at this point, but a reunion with Eugenio Suárez remains on the table. Otherwise, trade alternatives include CJ Abrams, Brett Baty, Matt Shaw and Nico Hoerner.

The Cardinals aren't explicitly telling the Mariners to go bark up those trees instead, but they might as well be. However much trouble Donovan is worth, this feels like too much.