Once again, the St. Louis Cardinals will be entering an offseason of uncertainty.
But this time, it will be with Chaim Bloom running the front office. John Mozeliak, the team’s current president of baseball operations, will not be back with the franchise next year. Bloom will look to get the Cardinals back to itheir consistent winning ways, but considering that the franchise is “heading toward young players, letting them (play)” — as Nolan Arenado recently admitted — the roster could look much different next season.
And I expect teams to call about many of the Cardinals’ players, especially infielder Brendan Donovan.
Donovan, 28, was the subject of a bunch of trade speculation in July. At some points, I thought it was very possible he’d be traded. The number of teams interested in him included the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros and New York Yankees, among others, and I’d expect those three to once again circle back.
No trade ever appeared imminent. But with the shortage of players available, and how teams around the game view Donovan, it wouldn’t be impossible for someone to overpay. After all, it’s completely reasonable for a team to acquire Donovan and hope for All-Star-caliber production at either second base or occasionally in the outfield, with the left-handed hitter slashing .281/.348/.407 with 10 home runs and 47 RBI this season.
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Cardinals will have to think hard about moving Brendan Donovan this offseason
Donovan has consistently been one of the most underrated players in baseball, similar to how Tommy Edman was before he was traded to the Dodgers last season (and then he promptly broke out in the postseason). But Donovan has been a better performer throughout his career — he has had exactly a 114 OPS+ in each of the last three seasons — and is not a free agent until 2028. And at a $2.85 million salary, he’s extremely affordable.
So yes, Chaim Bloom, expect your phone to be busy with teams looking to acquire Donovan or even a player like, say, Lars Nootbaar. Like Donovan, Nootbaar is also still arbitration eligible and isn’t a free agent until 2028.
The Cardinals, however, have shown no real willingness in recent years to move Nootbaar. Perhaps that changes with a new voice atop the front office. But Nootbaar, who is a career .243/.341/.409 hitter with a .750 OPS, 58 home runs and 193 RBI in five seasons, figures to be the topic of trade calls once again.
Then there is Arenado. The Cardinals made clear that trading the future Hall of Famer was Plan A, B and C last offseason. He’s under contract for two more seasons and will earn $27 million next year. A trade has proven very difficult to facilitate, especially since he vetoed a move to the Astros last winter and his production has declined in recent years. But with Arenado admitting that the organization is trending toward younger players, perhaps he will be more open to waiving his no-trade clause.
Either way, Bloom will have a busy first offseason running the Cardinals’ front office. There will be plenty of trade conversations. There always are. But the bulk of the calls coming in will be from teams trying to pry Donovan out of St. Louis.