Lazaro Montes' slugging spree reveals a hidden win of Mariners' Brendan Donovan trade

No one's going to pretend it isn't frustrating Brendan Donovan has had continual issues with a left groin strain that's so far limited him to only 25 out of a possible 75 games. (Yep, had to do a double-take at that.) At the same time, you can't blame the Seattle Mariners for making the move for him in the first place. In addition, one upside of the trade right now is that Lazaro Montes is raking in Double-A Arkansas.

When the Mariners were in negotiations during the offseason for Donovan, you may or may not remember the St. Louis Cardinals discussed including Montes as part of the return package. In the end however, they accepted Jurrangelo Cijntje instead as part of a blockbuster trade which also ended up involving the Tampa Bay Rays.

We'll readily acknowledge we expressed some healthy skepticism towards Montes recently, due to aspects such as a low batting average and high strikeout rate. Sure he had nine home runs during May, but this alluded to an all-or-nothing power-only player who offered little else. Well, he's been making us eat our words of late and we're happily here for it, with him having already belted eight bombs in June.

Seriously, the guy is on one right now and has gone from being a power-only hitter to a power-first bat who's lighting up the skies. It almost makes us feel guilty -- almost -- about doubting Montes, with him batting .316 with a 1.181 OPS and 199 wRC+ in 15 games this month. It shouldn't even be surprising to see what the 21-year-old is doing, given he's the two-time reigning Mariners minor league Ken Griffey Jr. Hitter of the Year.

Disappointing returns by Jurrangelo Cijntje in St. Louis only reinforce the Mariners made the right call

Additionally, while we take no pleasure in bringing this up, the decision to instead send Cijntje to St. Louis has increasingly proven to be the correct one. The Cardinals decided to move forward with a plan already set out by the Mariners prior to the Donovan trade, to mostly discontinue using the 23-year-old as a switch-pitcher. However, despite focusing on being a righty the results have been dire up to this point in 2026, with a stat line which includes a 5.43 ERA, 5.62 FIP and 1.441 WHIP.

This is not to proclaim Cijntje can't still fulfil the potential which persuaded the Mariners to draft him 15th overall in 2024. As things stand though they were smart to keep hold of Montes, who's currently ranked as the 27th overall prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline.

The irony in all this is that as Montes' stock continues to grow, there's every chance he'll end up being shipped out of Seattle anyway. The Mariners are determined to strengthen their World Series chances ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline, and selling him high could get them an invaluable right-handed bat or bullpen arm.

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