The perfect Brendan Donovan trade partner has emerged for the Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals are looking to cash in on the most popular trade chip available this offseason, Brendan Donovan, and with the Winter Meetings coming up next week, he could very well find himself on a new team very soon.

There are upwards of 20 teams interested in acquiring Donovan, with some options presenting as better than others. The Cardinals clearly are interested in acquiring pitching in a Donovan deal, so teams loaded with young arms are best suited to acquire the Cardinals All-Star.

The Seattle Mariners, who have just been reported as interested in acquiring Donovan, are the perfect fit.

The Mariners have expressed interest in trading for Cardinals' Brendan Donovan

Adam June of The Seattle Times reported that the Mariners have expressed interest in acquiring Donovan. June cited Donovan as a replacement for Jorge Polanco, who had a career year for Seattle in 2025 and is a free agent alongside Eugenio Suarez, and he would provide the Mariners with a utilityman after losing Dylan Moore.

The Mariners had interest in acquiring Donovan last offseason, and they know the Cardinals' asking price is going to be high. Whether it is a big league-ready arm like Bryce Miller or one of their top pitching prospects like Ryan Sloan or Jurrangelo Cijntje, Seattle has the arms to move in order to get a deal done.

I recently wrote about five Donovan trades that Cardinals fans would actually really like, and the Mariners weren't on that list purely because it sounded like Seattle wasn't going to be open to moving their young pitching. If they have opened their mind to doing so, well, this could be the perfect situation for the Cardinals to move their prized asset.

Donovan would be a huge boost to Seattle's championship hopes in 2026. The Mariners' offense was awesome in 2026, but with some bats likely leaving in free agency and some natural regression likely coming, adding a name like Donovan would be wise.

For the Cardinals, the director of pitching, Matt Pierpont, came over from Seattle last offseason and would know their arms very well. They truly do have the kind of upside arms that would help accelerate the Cardinals' rebuild, so making a deal with them would be a major win.