<\/p>\n
In an offseason fueled on upgrading this team<\/a> after experiencing the painful reality of reverting back to their usual “Octoberless” ways in 2025, three things are currently true about the Kansas City Royals:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n One, their current second base duo of Jonathan India and Michael Massey is not giving them nearly enough production.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Two, they’re in dire need of corner outfield help after their rotating cast of veterans and rookies failed to come close to meeting expectations in 2025.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Three, they have more starting pitchers than places in the starting rotation.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Obviously J.J. Picollo and the Royals front office will need to address all of these things at somepoint this winter. But what if there was a way to tackle all three of these in one fell swoop?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Enter Brendan Donovan and the St. Louis Cardinals.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Cardinals have seemingly been rumored to be shopping their All-Star utility man for some time now, and according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, there seems to be a bit of a Show-Me State link here<\/a> that could make all the sense in the world.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Goold reported on Thursday morning that the Royals were among those intested in Donovan’s services in the early stages of the offseason.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Count [the Royals] among teams interested in Brendan Donovan, per sources,” Goold wrote on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “They’re open to talk about trading one of their starters to find a bat,” he also wrote. “[The Cardinals] are shopping for a [starter].”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It makes sense as to why the Cardinals would be interested in trading Donovan this winter. The utility man has a coveted pair of team control remaining this year with a projected 2026 arbitration salary between $5-6 million, according to both MLB Trade Rumors<\/a> and Spotrac<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n St. Louis has also missed the postseason in three consecutive seasons now, meaning their competitive window may not open again while Donovan is still under team control.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And as mentioned earlier, he pairs his controllable and affordable salary with the some rock solid play on both sides of the ball.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In 2025, Donovan slashed .287\/.353\/.422 with 10 HR, 50 RBI, a low 13.0% strikeout rate and a 119 wRC+. He ended up cracking his first All-Star roster in the process along with being named an NL Silver Slugger finalist<\/a> at the utility spot. He also managed to post 2 OAA at his more primary second base role.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Then there’s the bigger window of his big league in general. Donovan has been a 2.5+ fWAR player in three of his four MLB seasons, a 115+ wRC+ hitter in every season so far, and has displayed above average defense worthy of Gold Glove back in 2022.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As mentioned earlier, while he was primarily a second baseman for the Cardinals in 2025, he has plenty of experience in left field as well as the ability to handle right field, third base and shortstop.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If the Royals like anything, it’s lineup flexbility. So, to have a bat like Donovan’s that could comfortably move around the diamond while being in the lineup everyday would be an extremely valuable asset for manager Matt Quatraro.<\/p>\n <\/p>\nRoyals and Cardinals could be the perfect trade partners for a Brendan Donovan deal<\/h2>\n