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Unless, of course, you receive that “offer you can’t refuse”.

Donovan has been arguably the cardinal’s best position player. He’s versatile, has a high baseball iq, and is what every competitive team requires to stay so. Trading him at this point is what the pundits like, based on a potential return ( they love to play those what-if games). But you know what you have in Donovan; not so much with prospects that may be returned in a trade

Donovan is now in his baseball prime, and should remain for the next 5 years or so. Try to extend him for that period. Build a team around him.

The Nard wrote: ↑06 Nov 2025 07:49 am Unless, of course, you receive that “offer you can’t refuse”.

Donovan has been arguably the cardinal’s best position player. He’s versatile, has a high baseball iq, and is what every competitive team requires to stay so. Trading him at this point is what the pundits like, based on a potential return ( they love to play those what-if games). But you know what you have in Donovan; not so much with prospects that may be returned in a trade

Donovan is now in his baseball prime, and should remain for the next 5 years or so. Try to extend him for that period. Build a team around him.

Agree

Because he is precisely not a player to build around. He is a complementary piece to star caliber players. The cardinals don’t have the necessary 2-3 star players to build around. If they had them, then Donovan is a no brainer extension. They don’t, so they need to consider dealing him.

woofy25 wrote: ↑06 Nov 2025 08:00 am Because he is precisely not a player to build around. He is a complementary piece to star caliber players. The cardinals don’t have the necessary 2-3 star players to build around. If they had them, then Donovan is a no brainer extension. They don’t, so they need to consider dealing him.

+1 also if bloom isn’t offered prospects he thinks are worth trading him for him he won’t trade him. People act like bloom is going to trade him just to trade him. He won’t. Bloom wants good prospects he’s not going to get that trading the highly paid veterans or noot or Gorman so he can trade guys like Gorman and speed up the rebuild or keep them and extend how long the rebuild takes

The Nard wrote: ↑06 Nov 2025 07:49 am Unless, of course, you receive that “offer you can’t refuse”.

Donovan has been arguably the cardinal’s best position player. He’s versatile, has a high baseball iq, and is what every competitive team requires to stay so. Trading him at this point is what the pundits like, based on a potential return ( they love to play those what-if games). But you know what you have in Donovan; not so much with prospects that may be returned in a trade

Donovan is now in his baseball prime, and should remain for the next 5 years or so. Try to extend him for that period. Build a team around him.

As a fan, if you find yourself pining for a 29 year old Brendan Donovan and hoping the team can build around him, that is a good indication that your front office needs to trade BD so, in the future, you can have better players to pine over.

ecleme22 wrote: ↑06 Nov 2025 08:09 am

The Nard wrote: ↑06 Nov 2025 07:49 am Unless, of course, you receive that “offer you can’t refuse”.

Donovan has been arguably the cardinal’s best position player. He’s versatile, has a high baseball iq, and is what every competitive team requires to stay so. Trading him at this point is what the pundits like, based on a potential return ( they love to play those what-if games). But you know what you have in Donovan; not so much with prospects that may be returned in a trade

Donovan is now in his baseball prime, and should remain for the next 5 years or so. Try to extend him for that period. Build a team around him.

As a fan, if you find yourself pining for a 29 year old Brendan Donovan and hoping the team can build around him, that is a good indication that your front office needs to trade BD so, in the future, you can have better players to pine over.

+1 keeping Donovan on a Larussa era team or early MM era team would be brilliant keeping him on 2026 team would be beyond dumb

I agree with those who say Donovan isn't the guy you build around. There is another factor, maybe some won't think it is important. Say they trade Arenado, Gray and Willie. Who's the team leader? To me it's Donovan, he's the one guy who can make a difference as a leader. That might be a good thing to have on a young team. Maybe it's not a difference between also ran and playoffs in 2026 but it could set the tone for the young guys later in 27 and 28.

Now I'm not going to be upset if they trade him but he can make a difference on a young team.

woofy25 wrote: ↑06 Nov 2025 08:00 am Because he is precisely not a player to build around. He is a complementary piece to star caliber players. The cardinals don’t have the necessary 2-3 star players to build around. If they had them, then Donovan is a no brainer extension. They don’t, so they need to consider dealing him.

Or better yet....go get those star players!

I can see valid arguments on both sides of this issue.


besides being talented, he's a gamer

Complimentary players aren’t really complimentary when there’s no one to complement.

Right now, we’ve got a roster full of supporting pieces but very few true A-list offensive producers for them to play off of.

That’s why Donny should be moved if the right deal comes along — and Burly and Noot should be on the table for the same reason.

I don't think they have to trade Donovan, but I would be shopping him to see if there is a deal for prospects that potentially helps them more for 2027, 2028, etc. than holding on to him.

Right now, Donovan should be worth more to a team in "win now" mode with a nearly set roster that needs a valuable, versatile player that can help steady the lineup should they have any injuries next year.

1)
C. Bloom's best trade chip sans the untouchables (JJW, Hererra, Doyle and likely Winn)

2)
He has two years of control at a low AAV

3)
At age 29 in January, 2026 he's not the player you center a re-build around

4)
Every single contender in MLB could use a Donny type player meaning Bloom could start a bidding war that drives up his return

5)
Bloom won't come close to "giving him away", the return will be solid


This is nothing against Donovan, he's a favorite of almost all of Cardinal Nation.

This is about the "re-build" and using him to gather some quality prospects or a young #3 starter w/control

I like Donovan. But he looks better because the roster around him is pretty weak. It is full of jags and prospects who were severely overrated. John Mozeliak sucked at judging talent and constructing rosters. And he sucked at making organizational hires (managers, coaches, Girsch). The guy was truly a putz. Hopefully Busch has been disinfected of his patheticness.

I don't think they should give him away, but he's probably got the most trade value of anyone on the team. I don't know that you can guarantee that he'll be in his prime for the next 5 years either. Nolan Arenado is 34 and he's been in decline since his age 32 season. And Donovan has been banged up a bit, so who knows how he'll fare as he ages.

He's a very solid player on a competitive team. But if we're not going to be competitive in 2026 and maybe 2027, then we'd waste the possibility of getting better when we are competitive. And he's not going to come cheap, either. They tried to sign him to an extension last year and he turned them down. He wants to get paid and I don't blame him.

It sucks. The Cardinals shouldn't be in this position, but they are, and pretending that we don't need to make some difficult decisions will get us right back into what got us in this mess.

The Nard wrote: ↑06 Nov 2025 07:49 am Unless, of course, you receive that “offer you can’t refuse”.

Donovan has been arguably the cardinal’s best position player. He’s versatile, has a high baseball iq, and is what every competitive team requires to stay so. Trading him at this point is what the pundits like, based on a potential return ( they love to play those what-if games). But you know what you have in Donovan; not so much with prospects that may be returned in a trade

Donovan is now in his baseball prime, and should remain for the next 5 years or so. Try to extend him for that period. Build a team around him.

Agree...and of all people, he personifies the Cardinal Way.

Basil Shabazz wrote: ↑06 Nov 2025 11:45 am Complimentary players aren’t really complimentary when there’s no one to complement.

Right now, we’ve got a roster full of supporting pieces but very few true A-list offensive producers for them to play off of.

That’s why Donny should be moved if the right deal comes along — and Burly and Noot should be on the table for the same reason.

This is true. He’s a solid player and you don’t necessarily wanna see him be traded, but you can make a reasonable argument that he’s the best position player we have, and that exactly is why you need to trade him because things are that bad. Because he shouldn’t in any way shape or form be that. At least not on a team that once to get back into the playoffs sooner rather than later