The Kansas City Royals have had a productive offseason so far, adding Lane Thomas, Isaac Collins, Nick Mears and Matt Strahm. But there’s still more work to be done.
The Royals have been one of the main teams showing interest in St. Louis Cardinals All-Star Brendan Donovan, but the market might finally be starting to move for him.
Jeff Passan of ESPN reported on Tuesday that the San Francisco Giants are making a push for a second baseman, with Donovan and Chicago Cubs infielder Nico Hoerner among their top targets. The Royals still need one more bat to improve their offense for this year.
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What This Means For Royals
If the Giants are making an aggressive push for Donovan, then the Royals are going to have to ramp up their pursuit as well. They have the young pitching that St. Louis would want in trades, so they’ll have to trade from their depth of starting pitching in order to land the 2025 All-Star.
The Royals’ offense let them down in 2025, and Collins and Thomas should help improve the lineup. But they just need one more hitter, and Donovan could be that missing piece that gets them back to the playoffs in 2026.
But as of now, it seems as if the Giants are the most aggressive teams, more so than the Royals, Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners, Donovan’s other suitors. Passan is a reliable reporter, so that likely means that the Giants are the frontrunners for Donovan right now.
If that’s the case, then it’s time for the Royals to up the ante on their pursuit if they truly want to improve their offense. They’ve done enough to improve their bullpen, but one more bat could make a huge difference for this young team.
His market has started moving now that Alex Bregman has signed and Nolan Arenado has been traded. But the Royals can’t back off now unless they truly find the Cardinals’ asking price to be too high.
Still, they can easily meet that price if they are willing to, but they might want to act quickly to avoid missing out on him and watching him go to San Francisco. We’ll see what the next few days bring in his market.
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