The Seattle Mariners won the Brendan Donovan sweepstakes, acquiring him from the St. Louis Cardinals for prospects Jurrangelo Cijntje and Tai Peete. This was a fairly hefty price to pay, as Cijntje is a top-100 prospect with a ton of upside and Peete is a recent first-round pick with a lot of raw talent, but in the grand scheme of things, it felt as if the Cardinals could've gotten more for their All-Star second baseman.
The Boston Red Sox, a team in dire need of an infielder, are one of many teams that should regret missing out on acquiring Donovan.
Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox say they want to win now, but their actions don't fully back their words up. Letting Alex Bregman walk after seeing how valuable he was to them on and off the field was bad enough, but who, exactly, is going to replace him? As of right now, the Red Sox are slated to start Marcelo Mayer at third base and a platoon of David Hamilton and Romy Gonzalez at second base. Mayer has a lot of upside, but how is this remotely good enough for a team trying to contend?
Donovan isn't the power hitter the Red Sox need, but Craig Breslow made it clear the team was going to shift to a contact-oriented group that plays strong defense. Is that not Donovan to a tee? Sure, he's left-handed, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a better option than Donovan, assuming Nico Hoerner isn't traded.
It didn't come cheap, but the Red Sox have Payton Tolle and Connelly Early, two high-end pitching prospects who are more valuable than Cijntje and are unlikely to crack their Opening Day rotation, in their organization. Boston has as much pitching depth as anyone, and could have easily made this trade, vastly improving their team right now in the process.
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants didn't make sense for Donovan at the time of the deal since they just signed Luis Arraez to be their second baseman, but a trade for the former Cardinals infielder would've been a much wiser investment for Buster Posey to have made.
A big reason for that ultimately has to do with Arraez, who, while he's an excellent contact hitter, he was one of the worst defensive first basemen in the sport in 2025. If he isn't a good defender at first base, the odds of him having the range to play second base well enough, when he was never a good defender there, are slim.
Donovan is a substantial upgrade over Arraez, and I'd argue a pretty sizable upgrade over CJ Abrams as well, for whom they were reportedly willing to offer a haul, even with one fewer year of control. Buster Posey has a lot of explaining to do.
Houston Astros
Admittedly, I don't know if a Houston Astros team with one of the worst farm systems in the sport was even capable of beating the Mariners' offer without making their big league team worse, but if they were, losing out on Donovan to a division rival is a pretty brutal look.
The Astros are loaded in the infield, but what makes Donovan such a special player is his ability to play all over the diamond. He could have slotted into either corner outfield spot, and would have provided much-needed left-handed balance. Look at their projected Opening Day lineup without him.
Player | Position | Hand |
|---|---|---|
1. Jeremy Pena | SS | Right |
2. Yordan Alvarez | DH | Left |
3. Jose Altuve | 2B | Right |
4. Carlos Correa | 3B | Right |
5. Christian Walker | 1B | Right |
6. Jesus Sanchez | RF | Left |
7. Yainer Diaz | C | Right |
8. Zach Cole | LF | Left |
9. Jake Meyers | CF | Right |
The only left-handed hitter who strikes any sort of fear into the opposition is Yordan Alvarez, and he's very injury-prone. Donovan would've given them more balance and another table setter alongside Jeremy Pena, both of which are needed in Houston, and would be a monumental upgrade over the likes of Sanchez and Cole in the corner outfield spots. Again, I don't know if an Astros trade was possible with their limited assets, but if it was, they missed the boat big time.
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays weren't really linked to Donovan, but I'm not sure why. Is there a more Jays-esque player? I mean, the 2025 Blue Jays were all about contact hitting and defense. Donovan is an outstanding defensive second baseman who makes as much contact as just about anybody. He doesn't have much power, but other than that, what's not to like?
The Jays have had a strong offseason, bolstering their rotation with Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce, improving their bullpen with Tyler Rogers, and even adding Kazuma Okamoto to their lineup. However, when looking at their lineup, it does feel like they're a bat short, especially after whiffing on Bo Bichette and Kyle Tucker. Donovan isn't quite the hitter those two guys are, but he's still a strong hitter.
The Jays could easily find mostly regular at-bats for guys like Ernie Clement, Kazuma Okamoto and Anthony Santander while playing Donovan every day thanks to Donovan's versatility. The Jays are another team that I'm not sure could have beaten the Mariners' package without including Trey Yesavage (which was never happening), but Donovan seemed like such an ideal fit. This team is still really good even without Donovan, but if a deal could have been made, Ross Atkins should have made it.
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