The Kansas City Royals made a surprising decision on Friday. Despite the struggles of Jonathan India during the regular season, the Royals refused to cut bait and ultimately gave him a one-year, $8 million contract for 2026.
The Royals are one of several teams rumored to have interest in St. Louis Cardinals All-Star second baseman Brendan Donovan. St. Louis is expected to trade him in hopes of bringing back some young pitching.
The India contract may ultimately affect the Royals potential pursuit of Donovan. This could possibly take the Royals out of the running for the 2025 All-Star with second base taken care of.
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Does Jonathan India’s Contract Affect Royals’ Brendan Donovan Pursuit?
As far as second base is concerned, the Royals appear to be set. That was an area that they were looking at improving, but with India back for 2026, it appears the Royals haven’t given up hope on him and instead will trust him to handle second base duties.
This may take the Royals out of the Donovan sweepstakes, but there could still be a way they could pursue him. They need help in left field as well, and Donovan can play almost anywhere on the diamond, including left field.
Perhaps the Royals could pursue him as a left fielder. He won the Utility Gold Glove with the Cardinals back in 2022 because of his elite defense and positional versatility.
While second base is his best position, the Royals can still put Donovan in a comfortable spot if they do decide to pursue him, and they have the young starting pitching depth that St. Louis would seek in a potential trade.
The two teams line up well together for a potential Donovan trade, so while India being retained affects the Royals’ pursuit of a second baseman, it doesn’t completely stop them from pursuing Donovan, as there are other places they can put him and get the most out of him.
With the contract having been tendered to India, things have changed a little bit, but not too drastically. The Royals can still get the offensive boost they need and somebody who can play left field pull time.
They’ll be an interesting team to watch as the Winter Meetings approach and they assess their needs.
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