STLtoday.com

Hopefully, Bloom will come away with at least one All Star caliber player and another that could develop into one. Preferably, one is as starting pitcher and the other is a slugger.

At least one ML-ready, high ceiling prospect (4+ fWAR ceiling) even if expected to take 2-3 years to get there.

mattmitchl44 wrote: ↑21 Nov 2025 11:17 am At least one ML-ready, high ceiling prospect (4+ fWAR ceiling) even if expected to take 2-3 years to get there.

Preferably a pitcher.

And on that, I'd prefer that they've already gotten some face time in the majors.

And I think another pitching prospect on the level of a (healthy) Tekoah Roby/Brycen Mautz/Ixan Henderson.

Either a SP or a high-level position prospect. MLB ready by 2027. That is if the return isn't a current legit MLB player. No Mozeliak specials of minor leaguers with injury history. The days of low-hanging fruit and hoping for the best should be over.

I suspect many will be disappointed

As you all are well aware, I’m against trading Donovan AT ALL, but….i will say, it would seem, that the return for him is looking like a lot more than I anticipated. No deal has been done yet, but if Bloom messes this up, then I will have lost all confidence in him!
He has the luxury of looking at multiple options and a slew of players to pick from. He doesn’t have to settle for anything.
Also, IF, he were to add, say a prospect or two that the Cardinals didn’t protect from the rule 5 draft, say Hansen, or a Blazers Jordan, would that bring back an even better return? There’s no doubt, Bloom has to nail this one. All of Cardinals’ Nation is watching!

To be clear, I still don’t want to trade Donnie! HaHa!

scoutyjones2 wrote: ↑21 Nov 2025 12:13 pm I suspect many will be disappointed

Never assume but I think you are referring to the CT forum posters.
I am more interested to hear the ‘take’ on the deal from baseball people.. former players/media who have jobs following the game closely.. Ie. Harold Reynolds, Mark DeRosa, Eduardo Perez, Sean Casey, Brian Kenny, Steve Phillips
Will listen to their breakdown of the deal.
If the overall consensus of the above people has ‘many’ disappointed that is a bigger concern for me .

Redbird R listed a couple of interseting trade senarios, Donovan to Cleveland for Parker Messick 25 left hander ready now, and Braylon Doughty 19 right hander. Also Kansas City with Noah Cameron, 26 left hander. Would probably take more than Donovan for Cameron, maybe Cards add Noot, KC add future prospect like Beam or Chourio.

Hoosier59 wrote: ↑21 Nov 2025 12:16 pm As you all are well aware, I’m against trading Donovan AT ALL, but….i will say, it would seem, that the return for him is looking like a lot more than I anticipated. No deal has been done yet, but if Bloom messes this up, then I will have lost all confidence in him!
He has the luxury of looking at multiple options and a slew of players to pick from. He doesn’t have to settle for anything.
Also, IF, he were to add, say a prospect or two that the Cardinals didn’t protect from the rule 5 draft, say Hansen, or a Blazers Jordan, would that bring back an even better return? There’s no doubt, Bloom has to nail this one. All of Cardinals’ Nation is watching!

To be clear, I still don’t want to trade Donnie! HaHa!

Really you'd lose all confidence over one deal? Possibly his first Cardinal deal? Tough to be perfect

Shady wrote: ↑21 Nov 2025 11:04 am Hopefully, Bloom will come away with at least one All Star caliber player and another that could develop into one. Preferably, one is as starting pitcher and the other is a slugger.

Highest upside period.
Be willing to add to BD for that highest upside. A catch? a P?
Anywhere from AA to a player that won't be a FA until 2030.
BD is 2028 and going into season 29 so younger is key.

To some extent BD is a redundancy. He's the current best known
but there are replacements in the system. Other teams have similar situations
and might be willing to let that go. Occasionally teams pick the wrong
horse to bet on. Be opportunistic and luck never hurts.

mattmitchl44 wrote: ↑21 Nov 2025 11:17 am At least one ML-ready, high ceiling prospect (4+ fWAR ceiling) even if expected to take 2-3 years to get there.

Plug that into the spreadsheet, Matt!
Jk... sort of.

scoutyjones2 wrote: ↑21 Nov 2025 12:13 pm I suspect many will be disappointed

No. I’m sure we’ll get an all star and an all star prospect back. That makes perfect sense for a 1x all star.

Absolut wrote: ↑21 Nov 2025 13:45 pm

scoutyjones2 wrote: ↑21 Nov 2025 12:13 pm I suspect many will be disappointed

No. I’m sure we’ll get an all star and an all star prospect back. That makes perfect sense for a 1x all star.

It depends on how hot the competition is to obtain Donovan. And some teams trade very good players that are blocked or they have depth at a certain position.

Shady wrote: ↑21 Nov 2025 13:51 pm

Absolut wrote: ↑21 Nov 2025 13:45 pm

scoutyjones2 wrote: ↑21 Nov 2025 12:13 pm I suspect many will be disappointed

No. I’m sure we’ll get an all star and an all star prospect back. That makes perfect sense for a 1x all star.

It depends on how hot the competition is to obtain Donovan. And some teams trade very good players that are blocked or they have depth at a certain position.

that sounds "Savvy"

there are 29 other teams....one can assume 20 or 21 of those teams believe they can compete. So who in their right mind will give us an All-Star for Donovan. Not to mention their top tier prospect. Of those 20 to 21 teams who has an All-Star that is "blocked" as you say? If they're an all-star, then they played enough games to matter and are certainly not "blocked" as you say. Why would one of those teams want to make their team worse, or at best make a side grade move....or worse for them, why would they give us an All-Star plus a Top Prospect. You'd assume their All-star is on par or better than Donovan. Their All-star probably played more than 120 games? Ours didn't.

There's a reason that pundits and quite a few posters on here keep saying "we'll get prospects back"....and if we get a major leaguer "then he's throw in with a salary, not an All-star"....maybe he was an All-star 10 years ago, but not on the same WAR level currently held by Donovan.

scoutyjones2 wrote: ↑21 Nov 2025 12:13 pm I suspect many will be disappointed

Considering that a sizeable fraction of CT exists in a perpetual state of disappointment, that's a safe bet.