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The St. Louis Cardinals made some noise over the weekend after being quiet at the Winter Meetings. They signed veteran right-hander Dustin May to a one-year contract to bolster their starting rotation.<\/p>\n
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But the work is far from finished for St. Louis. They still have trades to make and needs to address for 2026, even though they are rebuilding. Their top trade chip is second baseman Brendan Donovan, who was an All-Star in 2025.<\/p>\n
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The top trade suitors are the Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants. The Kansas City Royals also have interest, but Ken Rosenthal<\/a> notes that the path is easier to San Francisco and Seattle and that what the Royals would offer them is not what they\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If you like our content, <\/em>choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google<\/em><\/u><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cTo make a deal happen, the Royals probably would need to orchestrate a three-way swap, trading left-hander Kris Bubic for prospects they could redirect to the Cardinals. Bubic, projected to earn $6 million in arbitration before becoming a free agent, is of little interest to St. Louis, a rebuilding club,\u201d Rosenthal wrote.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bubic was an All-Star himself in 2025, going 8-7 with a 2.55 ERA. However, an arm injury cut his season short at 20 starts, and he is also in the final year of his contract.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Because of that, the Cardinals are likely looking for something different. If they\u2019re going to acquire a starting pitcher via trade, they need to make sure that it\u2019s a younger arm with more years of club control.<\/p>\n <\/p>\nCardinals Not Interested In Royals All-Star<\/h2>\n