The Cardinals' stance on Brendan Donovan is anyone's guess

The St. Louis Cardinals look to be in a conundrum with Brendan Donovan. As the arbitration deadline has come and gone, the Cardinals agreed to terms with pitchers Ryan Helsley, JoJo Romero and John King and failed to come to an agreement with pitcher Andre Pallante, outfielder Lars Nootbaar and utility player Brendan Donovan. Donovan's case appears to be the most intriguing of the three, as reports surfaced from STLToday's Derrick Goold and MLB.com's John Denton that the Cardinals are interested in negotiating a multiyear deal with the talented jack-of-all-trades.

But as the deadline progressed, subsequent posts from Denton suggested that the Cardinals have begun to sour on the idea of exploring a longer contract for Donovan, and one MLB source confirmed that the Cardinals showed little interest in providing Donovan a long-term contract.

Donovan would be in line for a significant pay raise if he were to be given a long deal. He led the Cardinals in batting average, OBP and OPS in 2024 while making only $757,200, plus a $424,722 performance bonus. He was also a finalist for a Gold Glove Award in the utility player category, an award he won in 2022, the position's inaugural year.

An extension seems to be a no-brainer, but if the reporting is accurate, the Cardinals could be getting cold feet from some previous extensions that have gone haywire, such as those of Paul DeJong and Miles Mikolas. The front office has also been directed to cut spending in 2025, but given Donovan's status as a likely pillar to the next competitive Cardinals squad, the team would be foolish not to pony up for his services. Donovan will be 28 for the entirety of the 2025 season, so he should have a few strong years remaining and be able to serve as a clubhouse leader during what will hopefully be the Cardinals' next winning window.

The Cardinals have managed to fumble the bag at nearly every opportunity over the past two seasons, and the Cardinals could be falling into the trap of once again second-guessing themselves. But if the Cardinals' supposed reluctance is merely an illusion and they are looking to lock up Donovan long-term after all, St. Louis should finally have something to cheer about for a team that hasn't provided many opportunities over the past few seasons.