5 Brendan Donovan trade packages that Cardinals fans would actually accept

New York Yankees

Make no mistake about it, the New York Yankees have been hot for Brendan Donovan for quite some time. They really like him, and they've been rumored to be in on him for years now. Could this be the offseason they pony up and give the Cardinals an offer they can't refuse?

The Yankees are actually a really good match for the Cardinals in a Donovan trade. While Trent Grisham's return on the qualifying offer complicates things, they do have Jazz Chisholm Jr. a year away from free agency, and Ryan McMahon didn't exactly light the world on fire after being acquired at the trade deadline. The Yankees have a lot of position players who miss time due to injury, and Donovan would be the perfect Swiss-Army knife to plug in wherever they need him, whenever they need him, while providing great offensive production and leadership for their clubhouse alongside Aaron Judge. Acquiring Donovan could also allow them to be creative with moving other position players.

The Cardinals want cost-controlled pitching, and Will Warren certainly fits the bill for that. The Yankees' rotation currently is headlined by Max Fried and Cam Schlitter, with Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon set to return from injuries in 2026. Alongside those names, the Yankees also have Luis Gil, Clarke Schmidt, and multiple exciting arms in the upper levels of the minor leagues.

So, while you can never have enough pitching, New York is as equipped as just about anyone to flip some of that to go get a player like Donovan.

Warren made 33 starts for the Yankees in his first full big league season, covering 162.1 innings of work to the tune of a 4.44 ERA and 4.07 FIP. That's not flashy, but for a rookie, it really is a great season, and his 24.1 K% and 24.6 whiff% show signs of further potential in his arm. Warren's offspeed stuff got batted around quite a bit in 2025, but his four-seam fastball graded out as a +11 run value while his sinker graded out +5.

Warren doesn't have the upside of a Schlitter, but that's not a player that the Yankees, or really any organization, would deal, barring a huge move. But Warren has already shown the ability to go pole to pole with good production, has swing and miss stuff that could get even better, and has a ton of team control.

Ben Hess, the other name in this proposal, was the Yankees' first-round pick back in 2024 out of the University of Alabama, and boasts a big fastball and nasty curveball that have talent evaluators dreaming of what his upside can be. In his professional season this year, Hess posted a 3.22 ERA in 22 starts, striking out 139 batters in just 103.1 innings of work. Seven of those starts came in Double-A, and his 2.70 ERA and 45 strikeouts in just 36.2 innings showed he's passing each challenge he's faced thus far.

Getting a duo of Warren and Hess would be quite the Haul for St. Louis. The mixture of an MLB-ready arm with real upside, paired with an arm that is further away with an even better ceiling, is probably the dream scenario for St. Louis, and the Yankees have plenty of arms that could mix and match to fit this kind of deal.