Rosenthal suggests 3 team trade for Donovan

[ForumPolice]

I was in the car early this morning and heard ESPN 101 saying after the commercial they were going to talk about his idea but had to get out of the car before I actually heard it so I looked it up when I got home. Not much here but I'll post it anyway

According to Rosenthal, the potential deal's structure involves:

The Royals' Challenge: Kansas City is interested in Donovan, but their primary trade chip, left-hander Kris Bubic, is of "little interest" to a rebuilding St. Louis club.

The Three-Way Solution: To bridge this gap, Rosenthal suggests the Royals could trade Bubic to a third team for prospects, which they would then redirect to the Cardinals to satisfy St. Louis's rebuilding goals.

Cardinals' Motivation: St. Louis is prioritizing young, controllable assets rather than veterans like Bubic, who is entering his final year of contract control.

While the Royals remain a suitor, Rosenthal also noted that the Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants have emerged as front-runners for Donovan because their paths to a direct trade for prospects are "cleaner" than the Royals'.

[Goldfan]

I was in the car early this morning and heard ESPN 101 saying after the commercial they were going to talk about his idea but had to get out of the car before I actually heard it so I looked it up when I got home. Not much here but I'll post it anyway

According to Rosenthal, the potential deal's structure involves:

The Royals' Challenge: Kansas City is interested in Donovan, but their primary trade chip, left-hander Kris Bubic, is of "little interest" to a rebuilding St. Louis club.

The Three-Way Solution: To bridge this gap, Rosenthal suggests the Royals could trade Bubic to a third team for prospects, which they would then redirect to the Cardinals to satisfy St. Louis's rebuilding goals.

Cardinals' Motivation: St. Louis is prioritizing young, controllable assets rather than veterans like Bubic, who is entering his final year of contract control.

While the Royals remain a suitor, Rosenthal also noted that the Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants have emerged as front-runners for Donovan because their paths to a direct trade for prospects are "cleaner" than the Royals'.

This is very ODD…..we’re now down to the ROYALS and they have to coax in 3rd team to satisfy the return. These Insiders must really want this trade to go through…..wonder if they forwarded this masterpiece to Bloom?

[12xu]

If the Royals really want Donovan, they can offer Noah Cameron instead of Bubic.

[ScotchMIrish]

I was in the car early this morning and heard ESPN 101 saying after the commercial they were going to talk about his idea but had to get out of the car before I actually heard it so I looked it up when I got home. Not much here but I'll post it anyway

According to Rosenthal, the potential deal's structure involves:

The Royals' Challenge: Kansas City is interested in Donovan, but their primary trade chip, left-hander Kris Bubic, is of "little interest" to a rebuilding St. Louis club.

The Three-Way Solution: To bridge this gap, Rosenthal suggests the Royals could trade Bubic to a third team for prospects, which they would then redirect to the Cardinals to satisfy St. Louis's rebuilding goals.

Cardinals' Motivation: St. Louis is prioritizing young, controllable assets rather than veterans like Bubic, who is entering his final year of contract control.

While the Royals remain a suitor, Rosenthal also noted that the Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants have emerged as front-runners for Donovan because their paths to a direct trade for prospects are "cleaner" than the Royals'.

If the Royals add a prospect of their own who whoever they get for Bubic a deal could be done but wrap you brain around the fact that the Royals want Donovan. They are tired of rebuilding. They are trying to win.

[Talkin' Baseball]

If I'm doing a convoluted trade with the Royals, here is what I am looking at: Donovan to the Royals for their #2 prospect, catcher Blake Mitchell, #8 prospect Kendry Chourio, and their Round A Comp pick. Chourio is young and has a ways to go, but has a shot at being a top of the rotation pitcher. We obviously don't need another catcher, so I would have to have an agreement in place to flip Mitchell to the Pirates for their choice of right-hander Jared Jones, or left-hander Hunter Barco. Jones is in the majors, Barco is major league ready. That is a return of someone for the rotation now, a high-ceiling rotation piece for later, and a draft pick. There may be better Donovan packages out there, but if I'm dealing with the Royals, that's what I want.

Kendry Chourio
AGE
18
BATS
R
DOB
10/01/2007
THROWS
R
HT
6' 0"
SIGNED
Jan. 17, 2025 - KC
WT
160
ETA
2029
Scouting grades: Fastball: 60 | Curveball: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 60 | Overall: 50

The Royals had some notable international additions to begin 2025 with catcher Moises Marchán (No. 31), shortstop Warren Calcaño (No. 38) and shortstop Ramcell Medina (No. 49) all ranking among MLB Pipeline's Top 50 prospects in the class. But it's Chourio who is popping up most in the group's first summer of pro ball. The 6-foot right-hander signed for $247,500 (the seventh-highest bonus given out by Kansas City this year) out of Venezuela in January. He made five appearances (four starts) in the Dominican Summer League, posting a 2.04 ERA with 22 strikeouts and one walk in 17 2/3 innings, and was promoted to the Arizona Complex League at 17 years old, becoming the youngest stateside pitcher in affiliated ball at the time.
The organization felt it could get aggressive with Chourio because of the advanced feel for pitching he'd shown out of the gate in the DSL. His fastball sat 93-97 mph in that move to the States, and it's easy to dream on how he can build on that present velocity as he continues to add physicality. He spots the heater well, too, and it has the ride and horizontal movement to keep hitters off. Chourio also works in a sharp upper-70s downer curveball and a mid-80s changeup that has decent fade, and those have helped keep the strikeouts coming.

Most DSL pitchers with good stuff struggle to find the zone, but that hasn't been the case at all with Chourio in the early going. His control numbers could normalize a bit more against more disciplined hitters, but for now, they've been stellar. Chourio is comparable to some of the most prominent high school arms in the 2025 Draft class and has the advantage of being younger with a growing pro résumé.

Blake Mitchell

Scouting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 60 | Run: 30 | Arm: 70 | Field: 55 | Overall: 55

A two-time Gatorade Player of the Year winner in Texas, Mitchell also used his performance with the U.S. national junior team to vault himself into becoming the eighth overall pick in 2023. He signed for below slot at $4,897,500 with the savings going toward other members of the Draft class. In his first full season, Mitchell was named Kansas City's 2024 George Brett Hitter of the Year after slashing .238/.376/.439 with 18 homers in 106 games for Single-A Columbia. He finished out his age-19 season with five games for High-A Quad Cities, and his final 135 wRC+ between both spots was tops among Royals full-season Minor Leaguers and best among qualified full-season teenaged catchers. The start to his 2025 season was delayed when he broke his right hamate bone early in Spring Training.

Batting from the left side, Mitchell has a swing designed for lift and pull, and the plurality of his contact came via flyballs in 2024. His load is rather simple with a slight leg lift, and the Royals worked with the backstop on keeping his stance from getting too wide in the box. He could challenge for 30-plus homers at his eventual peak. Mitchell isn't a quick runner but knows when to pick his spots on the basepaths -- ranking third in the Minors among catchers with 26 total steals.

The Texas native has plus-plus arm strength -- he touched 97 mph as an amateur pitcher -- but he'll need to work on improving his accuracy after catching only 14.4 percent of attempted basestealers in 2024. As is typical of modern catchers, he isn't afraid of putting one knee down and getting low in his defensive stance to steal strikes, and he has the athleticism to receive and block well as he develops. K.C. knows something about having a homegrown franchise catcher, and Mitchell is on his way to that status as he enters his 20s.

[Ronnie Dobbs]

This is very ODD…..we’re now down to the ROYALS and they have to coax in 3rd team to satisfy the return. These Insiders must really want this trade to go through…..wonder if they forwarded this masterpiece to Bloom?

This is very ODD that you would come to this conclusion based on anything in the OP.

[rockondlouie]

If the Royals really want Donovan, they can offer Noah Cameron instead of Bubic.

^^^THIS^^^

Bloom's holding the winning hand and he knows it, multiple teams want Donny not just the M's, Giants and KC and he knows it.

Pay up or move on other teams, you're not dealing w/Mo anymore.

[kyace]

I saw a potential trade of the Yankees and Royals where the Yankees get Bubic and a prospect for Chisholm if the Yankees don’t sign the Japanese pitcher as they need a pitcher especially at the season start.
Yankees still covert Donovan, I wonder if in doing a 3 team trade where Cards get KC comp a pick and two pitching prospects from the Yankees and the Yankees getting Donovan and Bubic would work? KC gets a huge offensive upgrade with Chisholm and could offer a QO the next year to recover the draft pick.

[craviduce]

If I'm doing a convoluted trade with the Royals, here is what I am looking at: Donovan to the Royals for their #2 prospect, catcher Blake Mitchell, #8 prospect Kendry Chourio, and their Round A Comp pick. Chourio is young and has a ways to go, but has a shot at being a top of the rotation pitcher. We obviously don't need another catcher, so I would have to have an agreement in place to flip Mitchell to the Pirates for their choice of right-hander Jared Jones, or left-hander Hunter Barco. Jones is in the majors, Barco is major league ready. That is a return of someone for the rotation now, a high-ceiling rotation piece for later, and a draft pick. There may be better Donovan packages out there, but if I'm dealing with the Royals, that's what I want.

Kendry Chourio
AGE
18
BATS
R
DOB
10/01/2007
THROWS
R
HT
6' 0"
SIGNED
Jan. 17, 2025 - KC
WT
160
ETA
2029
Scouting grades: Fastball: 60 | Curveball: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 60 | Overall: 50

The Royals had some notable international additions to begin 2025 with catcher Moises Marchán (No. 31), shortstop Warren Calcaño (No. 38) and shortstop Ramcell Medina (No. 49) all ranking among MLB Pipeline's Top 50 prospects in the class. But it's Chourio who is popping up most in the group's first summer of pro ball. The 6-foot right-hander signed for $247,500 (the seventh-highest bonus given out by Kansas City this year) out of Venezuela in January. He made five appearances (four starts) in the Dominican Summer League, posting a 2.04 ERA with 22 strikeouts and one walk in 17 2/3 innings, and was promoted to the Arizona Complex League at 17 years old, becoming the youngest stateside pitcher in affiliated ball at the time.
The organization felt it could get aggressive with Chourio because of the advanced feel for pitching he'd shown out of the gate in the DSL. His fastball sat 93-97 mph in that move to the States, and it's easy to dream on how he can build on that present velocity as he continues to add physicality. He spots the heater well, too, and it has the ride and horizontal movement to keep hitters off. Chourio also works in a sharp upper-70s downer curveball and a mid-80s changeup that has decent fade, and those have helped keep the strikeouts coming.

Most DSL pitchers with good stuff struggle to find the zone, but that hasn't been the case at all with Chourio in the early going. His control numbers could normalize a bit more against more disciplined hitters, but for now, they've been stellar. Chourio is comparable to some of the most prominent high school arms in the 2025 Draft class and has the advantage of being younger with a growing pro résumé.

Blake Mitchell

Scouting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 60 | Run: 30 | Arm: 70 | Field: 55 | Overall: 55

A two-time Gatorade Player of the Year winner in Texas, Mitchell also used his performance with the U.S. national junior team to vault himself into becoming the eighth overall pick in 2023. He signed for below slot at $4,897,500 with the savings going toward other members of the Draft class. In his first full season, Mitchell was named Kansas City's 2024 George Brett Hitter of the Year after slashing .238/.376/.439 with 18 homers in 106 games for Single-A Columbia. He finished out his age-19 season with five games for High-A Quad Cities, and his final 135 wRC+ between both spots was tops among Royals full-season Minor Leaguers and best among qualified full-season teenaged catchers. The start to his 2025 season was delayed when he broke his right hamate bone early in Spring Training.

Batting from the left side, Mitchell has a swing designed for lift and pull, and the plurality of his contact came via flyballs in 2024. His load is rather simple with a slight leg lift, and the Royals worked with the backstop on keeping his stance from getting too wide in the box. He could challenge for 30-plus homers at his eventual peak. Mitchell isn't a quick runner but knows when to pick his spots on the basepaths -- ranking third in the Minors among catchers with 26 total steals.

The Texas native has plus-plus arm strength -- he touched 97 mph as an amateur pitcher -- but he'll need to work on improving his accuracy after catching only 14.4 percent of attempted basestealers in 2024. As is typical of modern catchers, he isn't afraid of putting one knee down and getting low in his defensive stance to steal strikes, and he has the athleticism to receive and block well as he develops. K.C. knows something about having a homegrown franchise catcher, and Mitchell is on his way to that status as he enters his 20s.

we're just collecting assets right now (I'm assuming), it really doesn't matter where they play. I think we're going the Pitt/Cincy route...solid Pitching Staff in a year or 2, then try to use those assets in trades for a better offense and attack the FA market.

For sure, we're not the O's or Cubs from 2010's...JJ is the only bat of consequence the last 2 or 3 years. We're holding out hope for Rainiel...and Baez was a 2021 pick. We went the pitching route.

[craviduce]

And Churio's control is even more impressive when you see he doesn't give up HR's...only 2 HR and 5 BB's last season...51 IP, but still, that's incredibly low rate for both. 63 K's is rather healthy, too.

[Talkin' Baseball]

And Churio's control is even more impressive when you see he doesn't give up HR's...only 2 HR and 5 BB's last season...51 IP, but still, that's incredibly low rate for both. 63 K's is rather healthy, too.

He wasn't on my radar until you pointed him out. I'm a believer now.

[TheJackBurton]

Was listening to one of the Mariners reporters yesterday and it essentially sounded like the Mariners were only willing to give up some mid tier stuff.

If so just move on.

[Talkin' Baseball]

Was listening to one of the Mariners reporters yesterday and it essentially sounded like the Mariners were only willing to give up some mid tier stuff.

If so just move on.

Forthwith.

[craviduce]

Was listening to one of the Mariners reporters yesterday and it essentially sounded like the Mariners were only willing to give up some mid tier stuff.

If so just move on.

what's Mid-Tier? Are they calling Cijntje "mid tier"??...or are you saying the M"s beat guys suggested even lower prospects?

[C-Unit]

If I'm doing a convoluted trade with the Royals, here is what I am looking at: Donovan to the Royals for their #2 prospect, catcher Blake Mitchell, #8 prospect Kendry Chourio, and their Round A Comp pick. Chourio is young and has a ways to go, but has a shot at being a top of the rotation pitcher. We obviously don't need another catcher, so I would have to have an agreement in place to flip Mitchell to the Pirates for their choice of right-hander Jared Jones, or left-hander Hunter Barco. Jones is in the majors, Barco is major league ready. That is a return of someone for the rotation now, a high-ceiling rotation piece for later, and a draft pick. There may be better Donovan packages out there, but if I'm dealing with the Royals, that's what I want.

Kendry Chourio
AGE
18
BATS
R
DOB
10/01/2007
THROWS
R
HT
6' 0"
SIGNED
Jan. 17, 2025 - KC
WT
160
ETA
2029
Scouting grades: Fastball: 60 | Curveball: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 60 | Overall: 50

The Royals had some notable international additions to begin 2025 with catcher Moises Marchán (No. 31), shortstop Warren Calcaño (No. 38) and shortstop Ramcell Medina (No. 49) all ranking among MLB Pipeline's Top 50 prospects in the class. But it's Chourio who is popping up most in the group's first summer of pro ball. The 6-foot right-hander signed for $247,500 (the seventh-highest bonus given out by Kansas City this year) out of Venezuela in January. He made five appearances (four starts) in the Dominican Summer League, posting a 2.04 ERA with 22 strikeouts and one walk in 17 2/3 innings, and was promoted to the Arizona Complex League at 17 years old, becoming the youngest stateside pitcher in affiliated ball at the time.
The organization felt it could get aggressive with Chourio because of the advanced feel for pitching he'd shown out of the gate in the DSL. His fastball sat 93-97 mph in that move to the States, and it's easy to dream on how he can build on that present velocity as he continues to add physicality. He spots the heater well, too, and it has the ride and horizontal movement to keep hitters off. Chourio also works in a sharp upper-70s downer curveball and a mid-80s changeup that has decent fade, and those have helped keep the strikeouts coming.

Most DSL pitchers with good stuff struggle to find the zone, but that hasn't been the case at all with Chourio in the early going. His control numbers could normalize a bit more against more disciplined hitters, but for now, they've been stellar. Chourio is comparable to some of the most prominent high school arms in the 2025 Draft class and has the advantage of being younger with a growing pro résumé.

Blake Mitchell

Scouting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 60 | Run: 30 | Arm: 70 | Field: 55 | Overall: 55

A two-time Gatorade Player of the Year winner in Texas, Mitchell also used his performance with the U.S. national junior team to vault himself into becoming the eighth overall pick in 2023. He signed for below slot at $4,897,500 with the savings going toward other members of the Draft class. In his first full season, Mitchell was named Kansas City's 2024 George Brett Hitter of the Year after slashing .238/.376/.439 with 18 homers in 106 games for Single-A Columbia. He finished out his age-19 season with five games for High-A Quad Cities, and his final 135 wRC+ between both spots was tops among Royals full-season Minor Leaguers and best among qualified full-season teenaged catchers. The start to his 2025 season was delayed when he broke his right hamate bone early in Spring Training.

Batting from the left side, Mitchell has a swing designed for lift and pull, and the plurality of his contact came via flyballs in 2024. His load is rather simple with a slight leg lift, and the Royals worked with the backstop on keeping his stance from getting too wide in the box. He could challenge for 30-plus homers at his eventual peak. Mitchell isn't a quick runner but knows when to pick his spots on the basepaths -- ranking third in the Minors among catchers with 26 total steals.

The Texas native has plus-plus arm strength -- he touched 97 mph as an amateur pitcher -- but he'll need to work on improving his accuracy after catching only 14.4 percent of attempted basestealers in 2024. As is typical of modern catchers, he isn't afraid of putting one knee down and getting low in his defensive stance to steal strikes, and he has the athleticism to receive and block well as he develops. K.C. knows something about having a homegrown franchise catcher, and Mitchell is on his way to that status as he enters his 20s.

we're just collecting assets right now (I'm assuming), it really doesn't matter where they play. I think we're going the Pitt/Cincy route...solid Pitching Staff in a year or 2, then try to use those assets in trades for a better offense and attack the FA market.

For sure, we're not the O's or Cubs from 2010's...JJ is the only bat of consequence the last 2 or 3 years. We're holding out hope for Rainiel...and Baez was a 2021 pick. We went the pitching route.

What I feel like I've learned here in these last few weeks, is that we likely aren't going to get "sure thing" prospects out of one of these trades.

Why would a team want to give up something of major consequence if they can avoid it.

Paint me whatever picture you want. They want to win now. They have an excess. Whatever. Just put the shoe on the other foot. When it comes to our Wetherholts and Rodriguez's, we know who they are and I'm sure our own front office is even less stupid. We would probably be frustrated to see them be traded, even if we were in win-now mode ourselves.

So bottomline, if we are looking for 55 and 60 grade talents, I think the most likely place we will have to look is international or the draft. That's how you get your own high-end talent. From other organizations in trades I think the best approach might be to aim for a quantity of 45+ types hoping you find some that are undervalued or primed to breakout. I just don't think we would get a consensus 55 FV guy into our organization that easily, and in good faith, from another organization. Would love to see myself Proven wrong.

Plus, with just one big prospect you have a chance of an injury wasting the whole trade. A group of 45+'s gives you the upside and a quantity to go against rate of attrition. Hopefully that quantity would round out roster depth (even as relievers or utility players) one day.

[CorneliusWolfe]

If the Royals really want Donovan, they can offer Noah Cameron instead of Bubic.

Here comes the Saber nerds to tell you according to some spin rate and air quality projections that Noah Cameron isn’t worthy why the good numbers he produced should’ve “never happened”.

Also, he’s not 12 years old so he won’t fit into the compete in 2039 plan.