Cardinals Winter Meetings: New Brendan Donovan rumors swirling as his market heats up

Another day, another Brendan Donovan rumor, but with the St. Louis Cardinals' leadership surrounded by every front office in the game this week at the MLB Winter Meetings, a deal may come to fruition in the near future.

The capstone of the Cardinals' rebuilding efforts this offseason, Chaim Bloom clearly sees the 2025 All-Star as the club's clearest path toward maximizing future value for the organization on the trade market. With 20 or more teams interested in acquiring his services for the next two seasons, it feels inevitable that Donovan will be on a new club here soon.

If the latest rumors are to be believed, Donovan will be finding that new home in the Bronx.

Cardinals Rumors: Brendan Donovan's name is heating up for a potential Yankees trade

The New York Yankees' interest in acquiring Donovan goes back years now, and both Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Jon Heyman of the New York Post have confirmed their continued infatuation with Donovan as the offseason has gone on. Now down in Orlando, where the Winter Meetings are taking place, buzz has grown regarding a deal between the two sides.

The latest heat has come over on Twitter from Hector Beauchamp of Latino Sports, who reported that there was buzz in the lobbies of the Winter Meetings regarding a potential Donovan-Yankees deal, and others from Yankees land have begun to chime in about how things could be coming together for a deal.

No one needs to go ahead and write this move in pen, but the Cardinals and Yankees truly do match up well for a Donovan trade. On the Yankees' big league roster, they have multiple cost-controlled starters beyond the untouchable Cam Schiltter, including Will Warren, Luis Gil, and Clarke Schmidt. They are also loaded with pitching prospects like Carlos Lagrange, Elmer Rodriguez, Ben Hess, Bryce Cunningham, Chase Hampton, and more. Donovan would be a huge get for the Yankees' push toward their first World Series title since 2009, and that kind of young pitching could jumpstart the Cardinals' rebuild.

There are certainly other clubs that could use Donovan and have the assets to go make a move for him, so we'll continue to monitor the situation closely. But many within the industry expect a Donovan deal to happen soon, so keep your eyes peeled for what happens next.