{"id":2207519,"date":"2025-12-21T13:38:20","date_gmt":"2025-12-21T13:38:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2207519"},"modified":"2025-12-21T13:38:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-21T13:38:20","slug":"cardinals-royals-brendan-donovan-rumors-facing-snag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/cardinals-royals-brendan-donovan-rumors-facing-snag\/","title":{"rendered":"Cardinals, Royals Brendan Donovan Rumors Facing Snag"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div q:key=\"QW_4\"><!--qv q:key=QW_2--><!--qv q:id=6n q:key=vcaa:\n\n<p>At this point, it would be somewhat of a surprise if Brendan Donovan were still a member of the St. Louis Cardinals when the 2026 season rolls around. <\/p>\n\n--><!--qv q:id=6o q:key=lY4S:mL_1--><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6p\">At this point, it would be somewhat of a surprise if Brendan Donovan were still a member of the St. Louis Cardinals when the 2026 season rolls around. <\/p>\n<p><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--qv q:key=QW_2--><!--qv q:id=6q q:key=vcaa:\n\n<p>There simply has been too much smoke around him this offseason to think a deal won&#39;t get done, unless the organization has an asking price that simply isn&#39;t realistic. Reports have swirled all offseason to this point about the volume of teams pursuing the All-Star utility man. <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stltoday.com\/sports\/professional\/mlb\/cardinals\/article_fff812ca-afa6-405c-8c79-38d202da64e9.html\" target=\"_blank\">Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch<\/a> reported that the Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants, and Seattle Mariners have shown &#34;consistent&#34; interest in Donovan. Katie Woo of The Athletic reported that the Giants and Mariners <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6887340\/2025\/12\/13\/mariners-giants-brendan-donovan-trade-partner\/\" target=\"_blank\">are the &#34;front-runners.&#34;<\/a> <\/p>\n\n--><!--qv q:id=6r q:key=lY4S:mL_1--><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6s\">There simply has been too much smoke around him this offseason to think a deal won&#8217;t get done, unless the organization has an asking price that simply isn&#8217;t realistic. Reports have swirled all offseason to this point about the volume of teams pursuing the All-Star utility man. <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stltoday.com\/sports\/professional\/mlb\/cardinals\/article_fff812ca-afa6-405c-8c79-38d202da64e9.html\" target=\"_blank\">Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch<\/a> reported that the Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants, and Seattle Mariners have shown &#8220;consistent&#8221; interest in Donovan. Katie Woo of The Athletic reported that the Giants and Mariners <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6887340\/2025\/12\/13\/mariners-giants-brendan-donovan-trade-partner\/\" target=\"_blank\">are the &#8220;front-runners.&#8221;<\/a> <\/p>\n<p><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--qv q:key=QW_2--><!--qv q:id=6t q:key=vcaa:\n\n<p><em>If you like our content,&nbsp;<\/em><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\"><em><strong>choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n--><!--qv q:id=6u q:key=lY4S:mL_1--><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6v\"><em>If you like our content,\u00a0<\/em><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\"><em><strong>choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--qv q:key=QW_2--><!--qv q:id=6w q:key=vcaa:\n\n<p>On Saturday, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6907283\/2025\/12\/20\/what-im-hearing-about-the-blue-jays-interest-in-bregman-plus-more-mlb-offseason-notes\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Athletic&#39;s Ken Rosenthal<\/a> gave a look at the market and noted that the Royals may need to shed payroll if they want to be in the mix for Donovan.  <\/p>\n\n--><!--qv q:id=6x q:key=lY4S:mL_1--><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6y\">On Saturday, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6907283\/2025\/12\/20\/what-im-hearing-about-the-blue-jays-interest-in-bregman-plus-more-mlb-offseason-notes\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Athletic&#8217;s Ken Rosenthal<\/a> gave a look at the market and noted that the Royals may need to shed payroll if they want to be in the mix for Donovan.  <\/p>\n<p><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--qv q:key=QW_2--><!--qv q:id=6z q:key=vcaa:\n\n<h2><strong>Will the Cardinals get a deal done?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n--><!--qv q:id=70 q:key=lY4S:mL_1--><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"scroll-mt-24 my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"71\"><strong>Will the Cardinals get a deal done?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--qv q:key=QW_2--><!--qv q:id=72 q:key=vcaa:https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,w_7529,h_4235,x_0,y_991\/images\/ImagnImages\/mmsport\/inside_the_cardinals\/01kd0ha0my370n1db8gy--><!--qv q:id=73 q:key=VjqC:mL_1--><!--qv q:id=74 q:key=deAA:7d_2--><!--qv q:s q:sref=74 q:key=--><!--qv q:id=75 q:key=deAA:7d_1--><!--qv q:s q:sref=75 q:key=--><!--qv q:id=76 q:key=cHU9:7d_0--><!--qv q:id=77 q:key=deAA:e2_0--><!--qv q:id=78 q:key=B0c2:SZ_1--><\/p>\n<figure q:key=\"9m_3\"><!--qv q:s q:sref=78 q:key=--><!--qv q:s q:sref=77 q:key=--><\/p>\n<div class=\"overflow-hidden bg-lightGrey undefined\" on:qvisible=\"q-Dz3MeBor.js#_hW[0]\" q:id=\"79\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_991,w_7529,h_4235\/c_fill,w_360,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_cardinals%2F01kd0ha0my370n1db8gy.jpg 1x, &#10;    https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_991,w_7529,h_4235\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_cardinals%2F01kd0ha0my370n1db8gy.jpg 2x, &#10;    https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_991,w_7529,h_4235\/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_cardinals%2F01kd0ha0my370n1db8gy.jpg 3x\" media=\"(max-width: 719px)\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_991,w_7529,h_4235\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_cardinals%2F01kd0ha0my370n1db8gy.jpg 1x,&#10;    https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_991,w_7529,h_4235\/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_cardinals%2F01kd0ha0my370n1db8gy.jpg 2x, &#10;    https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_991,w_7529,h_4235\/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_cardinals%2F01kd0ha0my370n1db8gy.jpg 3x\" media=\"(max-width: 1079px)\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_991,w_7529,h_4235\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_cardinals%2F01kd0ha0my370n1db8gy.jpg 1x,&#10;    https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_991,w_7529,h_4235\/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_cardinals%2F01kd0ha0my370n1db8gy.jpg 2x,&#10;    https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_991,w_7529,h_4235\/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_cardinals%2F01kd0ha0my370n1db8gy.jpg 3x\" media=\"(min-width: 1080px)\"><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<p><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><\/p>\n<p><figcaption q:id=\"7b\">Sep 12, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; St. Louis Cardinals second base Brendan Donovan (33) gets a base hit against the Milwaukee Brewers in the seventh inning at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Michael McLoone-Imagn Images | Michael McLoone-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--qv q:key=QW_2--><!--qv q:id=7c q:key=vcaa:\n\n<p>&#34;The Royals had been telling clubs and agents they were operating with limited financial flexibility,&#34; Rosenthal wrote. &#34;But ownership allowed the front office to extend for Strahm, who became a more pressing addition after the Royals traded lefty reliever Angel Zerpa to the Milwaukee Brewers for outfielder Isaac Collins and righty reliever Nick Mears.<\/p>\n\n--><!--qv q:id=7d q:key=lY4S:mL_1--><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7e\">&#8220;The Royals had been telling clubs and agents they were operating with limited financial flexibility,&#8221; Rosenthal wrote. &#8220;But ownership allowed the front office to extend for Strahm, who became a more pressing addition after the Royals traded lefty reliever Angel Zerpa to the Milwaukee Brewers for outfielder Isaac Collins and righty reliever Nick Mears.<\/p>\n<p><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--qv q:key=QW_2--><!--qv q:id=7f q:key=vcaa:\n\n<p>&#34;Shedding payroll still might be necessary for the Royals to acquire one more hitter, ideally the Red Sox&rsquo;s Jarren Duran or St. Louis Cardinals&rsquo; Brendan Donovan, according to people familiar with their plans. The team remains open to moving left-hander Kris Bubic, who is projected to earn $6 million in arbitration. A trade of righty reliever John Schreiber ($3.8 million projection) or Bailey Falter ($3.3 million) also would create flexibility.<\/p>\n\n--><!--qv q:id=7g q:key=lY4S:mL_1--><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7h\">&#8220;Shedding payroll still might be necessary for the Royals to acquire one more hitter, ideally the Red Sox\u2019s Jarren Duran or St. Louis Cardinals\u2019 Brendan Donovan, according to people familiar with their plans. The team remains open to moving left-hander Kris Bubic, who is projected to earn $6 million in arbitration. A trade of righty reliever John Schreiber ($3.8 million projection) or Bailey Falter ($3.3 million) also would create flexibility.<\/p>\n<p><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--qv q:key=QW_2--><!--qv q:id=7i q:key=vcaa:\n\n<p>&#34;While the Royals are disinclined to trade their top starting pitchers, Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha and Cole Ragans, they continue to get hit on a variety of others, including Bubic, lefty Noah Cameron and righties Ryan Bergert, Stephen Kolek and Luinder Avila, sources say.&#34;<\/p>\n\n--><!--qv q:id=7j q:key=lY4S:mL_1--><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7k\">&#8220;While the Royals are disinclined to trade their top starting pitchers, Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha and Cole Ragans, they continue to get hit on a variety of others, including Bubic, lefty Noah Cameron and righties Ryan Bergert, Stephen Kolek and Luinder Avila, sources say.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--qv q:key=QW_2--><!--qv q:id=7l q:key=vcaa:\n\n<p>If St. Louis wants pitching in exchange for Donovan, the Royals could help. For the Cardinals, the interest is clearly there around the league. Now, it&#39;s a matter of getting a deal over the finish line with someone.<\/p>\n\n--><!--qv q:id=7m q:key=lY4S:mL_1--><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7n\">If St. Louis wants pitching in exchange for Donovan, the Royals could help. For the Cardinals, the interest is clearly there around the league. Now, it&#8217;s a matter of getting a deal over the finish line with someone.<\/p>\n<p><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--qv q:key=QW_2--><!--qv q:id=7o q:key=vcaa:\n\n<p><em><strong>More MLB: <\/strong><\/em><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/cardinals\/onsi\/st-louis-cardinals-news\/mariners-insider-adds-fuel-to-cardinals-brendan-donovan-rumors-pat3\"><em><strong>Mariners Insider Adds Fuel To Cardinals, Brendan Donovan Rumors<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n--><!--qv q:id=7p q:key=lY4S:mL_1--><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7q\"><em><strong>More MLB: <\/strong><\/em><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/cardinals\/onsi\/st-louis-cardinals-news\/mariners-insider-adds-fuel-to-cardinals-brendan-donovan-rumors-pat3\"><em><strong>Mariners Insider Adds Fuel To Cardinals, Brendan Donovan Rumors<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.si.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At this point, it would be somewhat of a surprise if Brendan Donovan were still a member of the St. Louis Cardinals when the 2026 season rolls around. There simply has been too much smoke around him this offseason to think a deal won&#8217;t get done, unless the organization has an asking price that simply [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2207520,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2207519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-royalty"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Cardinals-Royals-Brendan-Donovan-Rumors-Facing-Snag.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2207519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2207519"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2207519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2207521,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2207519\/revisions\/2207521"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2207520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2207519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2207519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2207519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}