4 top prospects Cardinals are eyeing in a Donovan deal ..2 Mariners & 2 Giants

[ramfandan]

Mariners

#3 Prospect ... OF Lazaro Montes AA age 21 6-5 210 ETA 2026 ranked 29th in Top 100
#7 prospect ... RHP/LHP Jurrangelo Cijntje 5-11 ,200 age 22 ETA 2027 ranked 90th in Top 100


Giants

#3 prospect 2B Gavin Kilen 2025 1st rounder (13th pick from Tenn. ) age 21 bats L throws R ETA 2028
#7 prospect LHP Carson Whisenhunt age 25 6-3 214

Link "https://redbirdrants.com/cardinals-rumo ... ovan-trade

Montes plus raw power ..can really launch it .. models his game and compared to Cuban Yordan Alvarez slow runner though .. Cijntge interesting
Kilen shined at Tenn. ..no surprise he went 13th in draft
Whisenhunt had PED in college .. another lefty P

[Ozziesfan41]

I would like Montes and cijntje Montes is the kind of outfield prospect they need to go with Baez. He’s got big time power and gets on base. Strikes out a lot though but he gets on base

[ramfandan]

I would like Montes and cijntje Montes is the kind of outfield prospect they need to go with Baez. He’s got big time power and gets on base. Strikes out a lot though but he gets on base

Montes' loudest tool is still his top-of-the-scale raw power from the left side of the plate, and he's continuing to learn how to get to that pop consistently in games. He has outstanding bat speed with plenty of loft in his swing to drive the ball in the air, and he can regularly register elite-level exit velocities. There is some swing-and-miss to his game and there will always be strikeouts, but he also draws walks (14.4 percent walk rate in 2024) as he's learning to find better pitches to hit. He models his game after and is often compared to fellow Cuban Yordan Alvarez.

He is slow and below average defensively so only corner OF and very likely could end up being a DH due to defensive woes. He is a beast though that can launch the ball with the best of them.

[ramfandan]

Baseball America scouting report on Lazaro Montes

Scouting Report:
Montes’ calling card is his elite raw power. Every swing is geared to do damage, and the ball often leaves the yard when he connects. He had the highest 90th percentile exit velocity of any Mariners minor leaguer in 2025. However, his aggressive approach leads to swing-and-miss issues, with an overall miss rate that hovered around 38% and plenty of in-zone misses. After experimenting with a more contact-oriented approach in 2024 that suppressed some of his power, the Mariners shifted Montes back to more of a damage-focused philosophy in 2025 that aligns far better with his natural skills and offensive profile. While he strikes out plenty, he also has solid plate discipline and walked at a 14.2% clip in 2025. Defensively, Montes has the strongest arm in the system but is a limited defender in right field. The Mariners are prioritizing improving his mobility and outfield routes in 2026.

The Future: After finding Double-A more challenging, Montes will likely return to the level to start 2026. He has 30-homer upside in the majors, which should help him find a way into a lineup even if his corner outfield defense comes up short.

Scouting Grades Hit: 40 | Power: 70 | Run: 30 | Field: 40 | Arm: 60.

[Ozziesfan41]

I would like Montes and cijntje Montes is the kind of outfield prospect they need to go with Baez. He’s got big time power and gets on base. Strikes out a lot though but he gets on base

Montes' loudest tool is still his top-of-the-scale raw power from the left side of the plate, and he's continuing to learn how to get to that pop consistently in games. He has outstanding bat speed with plenty of loft in his swing to drive the ball in the air, and he can regularly register elite-level exit velocities. There is some swing-and-miss to his game and there will always be strikeouts, but he also draws walks (14.4 percent walk rate in 2024) as he's learning to find better pitches to hit. He models his game after and is often compared to fellow Cuban Yordan Alvarez.

He is slow and below average defensively so only corner OF and very likely could end up being a DH due to defensive woes. He is a beast though that can launch the ball with the best of them.

Him and Baez at the corners would make for a pretty good outfield

[ramfandan]

I would like Montes and cijntje Montes is the kind of outfield prospect they need to go with Baez. He’s got big time power and gets on base. Strikes out a lot though but he gets on base

Montes' loudest tool is still his top-of-the-scale raw power from the left side of the plate, and he's continuing to learn how to get to that pop consistently in games. He has outstanding bat speed with plenty of loft in his swing to drive the ball in the air, and he can regularly register elite-level exit velocities. There is some swing-and-miss to his game and there will always be strikeouts, but he also draws walks (14.4 percent walk rate in 2024) as he's learning to find better pitches to hit. He models his game after and is often compared to fellow Cuban Yordan Alvarez.

He is slow and below average defensively so only corner OF and very likely could end up being a DH due to defensive woes. He is a beast though that can launch the ball with the best of them.

Him and Baez at the corners would make for a pretty good outfield

He does have a strong arm .. the question will be will his slower speed be a detriment getting to balls . If he doesn't work out on defense, you can always make him the full time DH if that 30 HR power proves true. Cardinals could sure use a power bat in the lineup down the road.

[Ozziesfan41]

I would like Montes and cijntje Montes is the kind of outfield prospect they need to go with Baez. He’s got big time power and gets on base. Strikes out a lot though but he gets on base

Montes' loudest tool is still his top-of-the-scale raw power from the left side of the plate, and he's continuing to learn how to get to that pop consistently in games. He has outstanding bat speed with plenty of loft in his swing to drive the ball in the air, and he can regularly register elite-level exit velocities. There is some swing-and-miss to his game and there will always be strikeouts, but he also draws walks (14.4 percent walk rate in 2024) as he's learning to find better pitches to hit. He models his game after and is often compared to fellow Cuban Yordan Alvarez.

He is slow and below average defensively so only corner OF and very likely could end up being a DH due to defensive woes. He is a beast though that can launch the ball with the best of them.

Him and Baez at the corners would make for a pretty good outfield

He does have a strong arm .. the question will be will his slower speed be a detriment getting to balls . If he doesn't work out on defense, you can always make him the full time DH if that 30 HR power proves true. Cardinals could sure use a power bat in the lineup down the road.

Yes sir if they can get him and a good pitching prospect for Donovan I would be floored

[ICCFIM2]

I would like Montes and cijntje Montes is the kind of outfield prospect they need to go with Baez. He’s got big time power and gets on base. Strikes out a lot though but he gets on base

I like the Mariner package much better. Both players have higher upsides. In particular, I would like them to get Cijntje to just pitch RH. They need RH starters anyway. Assuming he starts the year in AAA, the Cards will have a logjam of AAA starters. A rotation of Doyle, Cijntje, Mathews, Henderson and Mautz could be the best AAA rotation ever?

Montes is another power bat who could be a bust. But, if him and Baez both hit, wow, the Cards fans will forget Walker ever existed in no time. Having both of them in the OF in Memphis may make a road trip to Memphis worthwhile this coming summer.

BTV has the trade at Donovan 32.5 he keeps inching up and Montes 24.6 and Cijntje 14.5 totaling 39.1. The 6.5 differential to the veteran is consistent with other deals offseason to date. Not sure if it is the maz value the team can get for Donovan. But, if they do this deal, Bloom has checked off a lot of boxes this offseason, 2 high end pitching prospects, a 1 year pillow deal for a pitcher, decent stop gap SP with upside and a power bat prospect. MO hasn't come close to doing that in the last 2 off seasons combined.

Go Cards,

[craviduce]

Baseball America scouting report on Lazaro Montes

Scouting Report:
Montes’ calling card is his elite raw power. Every swing is geared to do damage, and the ball often leaves the yard when he connects. He had the highest 90th percentile exit velocity of any Mariners minor leaguer in 2025. However, his aggressive approach leads to swing-and-miss issues, with an overall miss rate that hovered around 38% and plenty of in-zone misses. After experimenting with a more contact-oriented approach in 2024 that suppressed some of his power, the Mariners shifted Montes back to more of a damage-focused philosophy in 2025 that aligns far better with his natural skills and offensive profile. While he strikes out plenty, he also has solid plate discipline and walked at a 14.2% clip in 2025. Defensively, Montes has the strongest arm in the system but is a limited defender in right field. The Mariners are prioritizing improving his mobility and outfield routes in 2026.

The Future: After finding Double-A more challenging, Montes will likely return to the level to start 2026. He has 30-homer upside in the majors, which should help him find a way into a lineup even if his corner outfield defense comes up short.

Scouting Grades Hit: 40 | Power: 70 | Run: 30 | Field: 40 | Arm: 60.

he's a younger Gorman....40 hit rating and he's not even mastered AA yet...batted .213 in North Little Rock...Springfield faced him quite a bit. He did put up 4 HR in a 6 game set vs. Springfield, but he also K'd 10 times in the same set. 30% K rate ...that'll be exasperated in the majors.

He's quite a player with the Power and Arm....but that's only 2 of 5 tools that elite, the rest are too below average to warrant his #29 ranking. You'd want 45 ranking to have "hope" that they might one day get to "Average"...that's not happening. Again...Younger Gorman.... YoungerKorn.


Major Red Flags there.

----------

As for Cijinte...he's not my first choice from Seattle. I want Sloan. I've never been a fan of short RHP. Short LHP can get away with it...but the RHP seem to fail more than not. Gray was an exception, but his Slurve/Slider is a thing of beauty.

------

That being said, The 2 from the Mariners are far better than the Giants 2 players....FAR BETTER. Kilen and Whisenhunt. And we don't need another soft tossing LHP with a great Change up....it's becoming redundant to a fault.

[ICCFIM2]

Baseball America scouting report on Lazaro Montes

Scouting Report:
Montes’ calling card is his elite raw power. Every swing is geared to do damage, and the ball often leaves the yard when he connects. He had the highest 90th percentile exit velocity of any Mariners minor leaguer in 2025. However, his aggressive approach leads to swing-and-miss issues, with an overall miss rate that hovered around 38% and plenty of in-zone misses. After experimenting with a more contact-oriented approach in 2024 that suppressed some of his power, the Mariners shifted Montes back to more of a damage-focused philosophy in 2025 that aligns far better with his natural skills and offensive profile. While he strikes out plenty, he also has solid plate discipline and walked at a 14.2% clip in 2025. Defensively, Montes has the strongest arm in the system but is a limited defender in right field. The Mariners are prioritizing improving his mobility and outfield routes in 2026.

The Future: After finding Double-A more challenging, Montes will likely return to the level to start 2026. He has 30-homer upside in the majors, which should help him find a way into a lineup even if his corner outfield defense comes up short.

Scouting Grades Hit: 40 | Power: 70 | Run: 30 | Field: 40 | Arm: 60.

he's a younger Gorman....40 hit rating and he's not even mastered AA yet...batted .213 in North Little Rock...Springfield faced him quite a bit. He did put up 4 HR in a 6 game set vs. Springfield, but he also K'd 10 times in the same set. 30% K rate ...that'll be exasperated in the majors.

He's quite a player with the Power and Arm....but that's only 2 of 5 tools that elite, the rest are too below average to warrant his #29 ranking. You'd want 45 ranking to have "hope" that they might one day get to "Average"...that's not happening. Again...Younger Gorman.... YoungerKorn.


Major Red Flags there.

----------

As for Cijinte...he's not my first choice from Seattle. I want Sloan. I've never been a fan of short RHP. Short LHP can get away with it...but the RHP seem to fail more than not. Gray was an exception, but his Slurve/Slider is a thing of beauty.

------

That being said, The 2 from the Mariners are far better than the Giants 2 players....FAR BETTER. Kilen and Whisenhunt. And we don't need another soft tossing LHP with a great Change up....it's becoming redundant to a fault.

Thanks for the insights. You are suggesting my comment above that Montes could be a bust is more likely than not...That is a concern. I also would like to land higher up the Seattle prospect list. They have a lot of great prospects. We will see how it shakes out.

[RunSup]

Baseball America scouting report on Lazaro Montes

Scouting Report:
Montes’ calling card is his elite raw power. Every swing is geared to do damage, and the ball often leaves the yard when he connects. He had the highest 90th percentile exit velocity of any Mariners minor leaguer in 2025. However, his aggressive approach leads to swing-and-miss issues, with an overall miss rate that hovered around 38% and plenty of in-zone misses. After experimenting with a more contact-oriented approach in 2024 that suppressed some of his power, the Mariners shifted Montes back to more of a damage-focused philosophy in 2025 that aligns far better with his natural skills and offensive profile. While he strikes out plenty, he also has solid plate discipline and walked at a 14.2% clip in 2025. Defensively, Montes has the strongest arm in the system but is a limited defender in right field. The Mariners are prioritizing improving his mobility and outfield routes in 2026.

The Future: After finding Double-A more challenging, Montes will likely return to the level to start 2026. He has 30-homer upside in the majors, which should help him find a way into a lineup even if his corner outfield defense comes up short.

Scouting Grades Hit: 40 | Power: 70 | Run: 30 | Field: 40 | Arm: 60.

he's a younger Gorman....40 hit rating and he's not even mastered AA yet...batted .213 in North Little Rock...Springfield faced him quite a bit. He did put up 4 HR in a 6 game set vs. Springfield, but he also K'd 10 times in the same set. 30% K rate ...that'll be exasperated in the majors.

He's quite a player with the Power and Arm....but that's only 2 of 5 tools that elite, the rest are too below average to warrant his #29 ranking. You'd want 45 ranking to have "hope" that they might one day get to "Average"...that's not happening. Again...Younger Gorman.... YoungerKorn.


Major Red Flags there.

----------

As for Cijinte...he's not my first choice from Seattle. I want Sloan. I've never been a fan of short RHP. Short LHP can get away with it...but the RHP seem to fail more than not. Gray was an exception, but his Slurve/Slider is a thing of beauty.

------

That being said, The 2 from the Mariners are far better than the Giants 2 players....FAR BETTER. Kilen and Whisenhunt. And we don't need another soft tossing LHP with a great Change up....it's becoming redundant to a fault.

I'll pass on another DH with limited defensive position option.

Next!

[Ozziesfan41]

Baseball America scouting report on Lazaro Montes

Scouting Report:
Montes’ calling card is his elite raw power. Every swing is geared to do damage, and the ball often leaves the yard when he connects. He had the highest 90th percentile exit velocity of any Mariners minor leaguer in 2025. However, his aggressive approach leads to swing-and-miss issues, with an overall miss rate that hovered around 38% and plenty of in-zone misses. After experimenting with a more contact-oriented approach in 2024 that suppressed some of his power, the Mariners shifted Montes back to more of a damage-focused philosophy in 2025 that aligns far better with his natural skills and offensive profile. While he strikes out plenty, he also has solid plate discipline and walked at a 14.2% clip in 2025. Defensively, Montes has the strongest arm in the system but is a limited defender in right field. The Mariners are prioritizing improving his mobility and outfield routes in 2026.

The Future: After finding Double-A more challenging, Montes will likely return to the level to start 2026. He has 30-homer upside in the majors, which should help him find a way into a lineup even if his corner outfield defense comes up short.

Scouting Grades Hit: 40 | Power: 70 | Run: 30 | Field: 40 | Arm: 60.

he's a younger Gorman....40 hit rating and he's not even mastered AA yet...batted .213 in North Little Rock...Springfield faced him quite a bit. He did put up 4 HR in a 6 game set vs. Springfield, but he also K'd 10 times in the same set. 30% K rate ...that'll be exasperated in the majors.

He's quite a player with the Power and Arm....but that's only 2 of 5 tools that elite, the rest are too below average to warrant his #29 ranking. You'd want 45 ranking to have "hope" that they might one day get to "Average"...that's not happening. Again...Younger Gorman.... YoungerKorn.


Major Red Flags there.

----------

As for Cijinte...he's not my first choice from Seattle. I want Sloan. I've never been a fan of short RHP. Short LHP can get away with it...but the RHP seem to fail more than not. Gray was an exception, but his Slurve/Slider is a thing of beauty.

------

That being said, The 2 from the Mariners are far better than the Giants 2 players....FAR BETTER. Kilen and Whisenhunt. And we don't need another soft tossing LHP with a great Change up....it's becoming redundant to a fault.

I get the Gorman comparison but he walks which gives him a big step up over Gorman he walked 78 times in just 115 games and 83 times in 132 games that kind of discipline will get him pitches to drive. He may flame out for sure he has risk but he has the kind of high upside they should go for. I don’t overvalue Donovan like some do Donovan is a utility guy he has a good hit tool and gets on base but he’s not going to hit 20 hr or steal 20 bases or drive in 80 or Score 80 a team isn’t going to give up their top rated prospect for him but if they can get a player like that go for it just my opinion

[RunSup]

Just package Donovan with Contreras and/or Romero and get a real top prospect. More mediocre lottery tickets is not better.

[renostl]

Mariners

#3 Prospect ... OF Lazaro Montes AA age 21 6-5 210 ETA 2026 ranked 29th in Top 100
#7 prospect ... RHP/LHP Jurrangelo Cijntje 5-11 ,200 age 22 ETA 2027 ranked 90th in Top 100


Giants

#3 prospect 2B Gavin Kilen 2025 1st rounder (13th pick from Tenn. ) age 21 bats L throws R ETA 2028
#7 prospect LHP Carson Whisenhunt age 25 6-3 214

Link "https://redbirdrants.com/cardinals-rumo ... ovan-trade

Montes plus raw power ..can really launch it .. models his game and compared to Cuban Yordan Alvarez slow runner though .. Cijntge interesting
Kilen shined at Tenn. ..no surprise he went 13th in draft
Whisenhunt had PED in college .. another lefty P

I'd pass on both.

Haven't seen Whisenhunt in over a year but unimpressed. He was a 5 at best and another LH.
He also lacked stuff.
The 2B is an enough to carry a deal.

Seattle just has much better packages than that to
Offer. Neither player has a level of certainty to them, at least one should right?

[Whatashame]

Just reading and following the news like everyone else, if these are the top two proposals and if these are the players involved then it’s kind of underwhelming.

For all of the teams that were supposed to be “in” on Donovan it’s hard to believe that someone couldn’t do better than the SF proposal. There just isn’t much to get excited about. Whisenhunt is their best pitching prospect but I’m like a couple of others here who just aren’t that impressed with the LH pitcher who makes a living on his change up. Kilen, highly thought of when drafted, hasn’t shown much pop and seems like a bottom of the order hitter. This is 2025, look at the SS playing today. That position has evolved into an offensive spot in the lineup. I’m not seeing a lot of that in Kilen.

The Seattle players involved are much better than what SF is offering but both have warts that are a concern. Montes seems like an athletic freak. 6’5” 210 lbs with big time power and a cannon for an arm but he can’t run and they don’t think he can play the field. He just turned 21 though and heck, if he can hit like Yordan Alvarez, who would care but if the swing and miss is 30+ percent in AA, we have seen a lot of that. It’s a concern when a 21 year old athletic guy is already being considered a DH only player. We have also seen this and we have more than our share of that.

Cijntje is also not many of our first choice but at least there is something to work with. Like someone else mentioned, I believe it was Crav, these undersized pitchers who are trying to be starters seem to have a tougher time.

They are both considered MLB top 100 prospects so there is definitely upside there but I guess I was hoping for a little bit more. I’m sure Bloom has done his due diligence and if these are the best two offers….take the Seattle offer, all day, every day.

[NYCardsFan]

FWIW, per BTV:

Montes: 24.6
Cijntje: 14.5
Total: 39.1

Donovan: 32.5

This is sort of what I hope they don’t do: trade for aggregate value that’s spread across multiple “ok” prospects, rather than concentrated in one premium prospect.