Familiar foe hopes to pry away Cardinals' most popular trade piece

The St. Louis Cardinals expect to be taking plenty of calls this offseason and one of their frequent callers from last offseason will be checking in again this year. After getting to the finish line of a deal surrounding Nolan Arenado, it appears the Houston Astros are at least checking in on the price for Cardinals All-Star Brendan Donovan.

The Houston Astros are expected to pursue Brendan Donovan this offseason

So far, the Royals and Guardians have been verified as being interested in trading for Donovan's services but Cardinals writer Derrick Goold would not be surprised to see at least half of the teams "in" on Donnie. In addition to those AL Central teams, a familiar Caller ID is expected to pop up on the St. Louis phones when the Astros call to check on the second baseman's status. In a recent The Athletic article by Astros staff writer Chandler Rome, he wrote how GM Dana Brown mentioned checklist items in need of completing and two league sources noted that Donovan was included on that list.

Donnie's affordability, flexibility, and leadership are all qualities that the successful Houston organization would like to bring into their clubhouse, but so would virtually every other team in baseball. In the Astros' case, they are feeling the expensive contract offered to first baseman Christian Walker last season and are looking to save some dollars around the roster. Second base was vacated in 2025 when they asked longtime franchise icon Jose Altuve to move out of the dirt, pick up an outfield mitt, and saddle up in the grass.

If Donovan were to end up playing in Houston, he probably would not be set at one position, similar to the way St. Louis has used him since his debut in 2022. While not an extraordinary defender at a single spot, he is an above-average option at many positions, as evidenced by his utility Gold Glove award in 2023. This season, he spent more time at second base but was still named as a finalist for the utility Silver Slugger award, ultimately losing out to teammate Alec Burleson. Burly is another oft-mentioned trade piece in his own rights, but he appears more likely than Donovan to stick around in St. Louis due to his age and remaining years of control.

Houston will have its work cut out for them if they hope to convince the Cardinals that Houston's prospect package is better than the return from other organizations. St. Louis is in the driver's seat in most negotiations around their roster as Sonny Gray and Nolan Arenado are expected to waive their no-trade clauses. Chaim Bloom is expected to be a popular man during his first offseason in St. Louis and the fans will be excited to see how he makes his mark on the organization. While the team is more than a year away from postseason contention again, how he decides to proceed through this offseason will set the tone for the future years of the rebuild.