Brendan Donovan has been drawing as much trade interest as any player in baseball, owing both to Donovan’s value as a left-handed hitter with defensive versatility and to the Cardinals’ rebuilding status. The Astros, Pirates, Royals, and Guardians have been publicly linked to Donovan’s trade market, and with these and more clubs in pursuit of the All-Star, the timing seems right for the Cards to cash in while Donovan’s value is at its peak.
That said, St. Louis isn’t required to move Donovan this offseason, since he still has two seasons remaining of arbitration eligibility. As The Athletic’s Katie Woo frames the situation, if the Cards can’t find the big return they want for Donovan, the team “will pivot to moving at least one of” Lars Nootbaar or Nolan Gorman. In another piece from Woo, Will Sammon, and Ken Rosenthal, Alec Burleson is another player the Cardinals won’t move “unless…blown away by an offer.”
All four of these hitters mentioned are lefty-swingers, so trading any of them would help balance out the St. Louis lineup and perhaps clear some room for another left-handed hitter in shortstop prospect JJ Wetherholt. Since Masyn Winn is an elite defensive shortstop, the Cardinals’ plan for Wetherholt seems to be to break him into the big leagues as a second or third baseman, so moving Donovan or Gorman in particular would clear a path in that regard. Trading Nolan Arenado would obviously also open up third base, though Arenado’s contract and no-trade protection makes moving him a trickier proposition than any of these other players, even though Arenado has expressed more of an openness to be dealt than he did last winter.
On the surface, the Cardinals’ stance is obvious. Donovan and Burleson were both much more productive than Gorman or Nootbaar in 2025, so naturally the latter two players seem to have less of a role in the Cards’ future plans. Formerly a top prospect in his own right, Gorman seemed to be figuring things out with a 27-homer season in 2023, but he has hit just .204/.284/.385 with 33 homers in 804 plate appearances over the last two seasons, with a whopping 287 strikeouts underlying Gorman’s contact problems. Nootbaar had been a more consistent performer before his numbers fell off during an injury-plagued 2025 campaign. The biggest obstacle to a Nootbaar trade seems to be his health, as he may not be ready for Opening Day following surgery to correct Haglund’s deformities on both his heels.
Moving Gorman or Nootbaar would obviously bring back less of a trade return than Donovan or Burleson. The Rangers were one team known to have interest in Nootbaar before word of his surgery became public, and the club’s subsequent trade for Brandon Nimmo would seemingly indicate that Texas has moved on from Nootbaar. The Pirates have shown interest in all of Nootbaar, Gorman, and Donovan, and Woo reports that Pittsburgh has also asked the team about Burleson.
Donovan and Nootbaar are controlled through the 2027 season, while Gorman and Burleson are arbitration-eligible for just the first time this winter and won’t be eligible free agency until the 2028-29 offseason. Burleson is coming off the best of his four MLB seasons, as he won Silver Slugger honors (from the NL utility position) after hitting .290/.343/.459 with 18 home runs over 546 PA in 2025. Burleson split his time between first base and both corner outfield slots this year, and while he is only passable defensively, his ability to play multiple positions gives the Cardinals some lineup flexibility. The appeal is obvious for a Pirates team looking for help all over the diamond, and for offensive help in general.
While the two NL Central rivals have rarely lined up on trades over the last few decades, the Pirates’ young pitching depth carries obvious trade appeal to a St. Louis team looking to restock their system with such arms. This week’s trade of Sonny Gray to the Red Sox not only cleared $20M off the Cardinals’ books, but it brought back pitchers who can help the Cards in 2026 (Richard Fitts) and further in the future (prospect Brandon Clarke).
Speaking with Woo, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Derrick Goold and other reporters after the trade, Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom said his team is aiming to add more pitching over the course of its offseason moves. This could include more experienced arms to eat innings and act as mentors to the younger hurlers, though Bloom indicated that such veterans might be more shorter-term additions.
“Not to put them in the way of any of our youth, but to make sure we have the right insulation up and down that rotation,” Bloom said. “We want to create some competition. We want to make sure we have options. And that we allow our young guys to flourish while making sure that next wave that we hope is coming doesn’t get pressed into service before it’s their time. We want to make sure they’re ready for the highest level of baseball before we throw them into the fire. So we will look to add to our rotation — whether it’s more youth or a veteran — as the winter goes on.”