This Yankees-Cardinals trade would land Brian Cashman an ideal infielder not named Nolan Arenado

The New York Yankees front office still needs to land one more infielder to round out their starting lineup ahead of Opening Day. And while Nolan Arenado seemed to be the most likely candidate from the St. Louis Cardinals to fill that void, John Mozeliak's inability to come to a long-term agreement with second baseman Brendan Donovan opens up a new opportunity for GM Brian Cashman and his staff.

There's a potential for animosity to grow between Donovan and the Cardinals after the sides were unable to agree to terms prior to arbitration. The 27-year-old has been an above-average starter over the last three seasons for St. Louis and deserves a long-term deal.

The Cardinals still hold a ton of leverage over the talented infielder since he won't hit unrestricted free agency until 2028. It still might be worth their time to test his trade market in the coming weeks. The Yankees would certainly be interested in acquiring him if St. Louis were willing to make a deal.

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How a Yankees-Cardinals trade for Brendan Donovan might look

Yankees fans looking to flip Marcus Stroman and his bloated contract in exchange for Donovan need to think again. St. Louis is not going to be interested in that sort of transaction. This isn't like Arenado, in which Mozeliak is mostly looking to free up some money; Donovan is a good, cost-controlled player in his prime, and the Cardinals would be looking for talented prospects to make any deal work.

Cashman and his front office have a well-earned reputation for holding on to every young player they believe has even the slimmest chance of blossoming into a star. That is partly motivated by New York's need to get their payroll under control: Retaining young players with multiple years of cost control is an effective means of accomplishing that goal.

So something has to give here to make a deal between the two sides, and it's the Yankees who will need to make the concession. That does not mean the organization will be willing to find a top-five prospect to St. Louis in exchange for a veteran that does not have All-Star ability or potential. Instead, the Yankees would look to bridge the value gap by sending a pair of good, but note elite prospects to the Cardinals.

Everson Pereira could headline the deal. He's a former top-five prospect whose career has been slightly derailed due to injury. There's not room for him in New York's outfield right now, but he could force his way onto the Cardinals' big-league roster next year, and his tools are stil pretty loud.

Will Warren would be the second player in the deal headed to the Cardinals. He is a valuable depth piece for New York's starting rotation but the team's offseason acquisition of Max Fried makes him somewhat superfluous in the Bronx. In theory, the Yankees could circle back and replace him on the depth chart in a separate Stroman deal with another team.

He would give St. Louis a potential middle-of-the-rotation arm to slot into their future plans. He might not have elite upside, but he's a relatively high-floor player that the Cardinals can be certain will contribute immediately.

Cardinals fans might want to see more upside in a potential Donovan deal, but they would get two top-10 prospects from the Yankees in this trade. That's a nice return for a solid regular who seems to be outside the team's price range and not quite on its competitive timeline.