5 Brendan Donovan trade packages that Cardinals fans would actually accept

Los Angeles Dodgers

Do I expect the Cardinals to get both River Ryan and Mike Sirota from the Los Angeles Dodgers in a trade for Donovan? Probably not. But this is what I'm asking for, and I'd hope to get something in the ballpark to part ways with the utility man All-Star if the World Champions really want him.

The Dodgers' prospect pool is really top-heavy with position players right now, so I would imagine if the Cardinals consider an offer from Los Angeles, it would potentially include one of their up-and-coming outfielders as well as a starter.

River Ryan missed the entire 2025 season due to Tommy John surgery, but he has some incredible stuff that is worth gambling on. Ryan's plus four-seam fastball sits in the mid-to-upper 90s and reaches up to 100 MPH with a ton of vertical break that makes it a hard pitch to square up and easy to miss, while his two-seam fastball stays in the mid-90s but is great for inducing ground balls. His slider is also a plus pitch, and his cutter is above-average, making for a pretty full arsenal already.

The Dodgers are loaded with pitching right now and have other prospects on the way or getting healthy again like Ryan, so I do wonder if they would be comfortable making Ryan the headliner of a Donovan package if they wanted to make the move.

Aside from Siorta, the Dodgers have a wealth of outfield prospects - headlined by Josue De Paula, Eduardo Quintero, and Zyhir Hope alongside Siorta and names like James Tibbs III and Ching-Hsien Ko. Much like how the Dodgers have an abundance of pitchers that allows them to deal from a position of strength, I wonder if they'd be open to moving Siorta to get a Donovan deal done.

Siorta is an all-around outfielder who can project to handle center field long-term as well. His ability as a defender and to steal bases gives him a good floor as a prospect, but he's also extremely disciplined at the plate (48 walks in 59 games) and could continue to develop even more power. Oh, and he's also the grand-nephew of Hall of Fame pitcher Whitey Ford, so he's got that going for him!

If the Cardinals swung this deal, they'd be betting on the upside and recovery of Ryan, a risk I would like taking personally, while acquiring a really interesting center field prospect who most outlets consider to be a top 100 prospect in the game. Again, is this a rich package? You bet. But again, if I'm Chaim Bloom, I'm asking for the moon and not settling for anything less than the sky.