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The St. Louis Cardinals‘ Brendan Donovan could be causing a battle between National League West rivals the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants. With the MLB Winter Meetings now in the rear view, the trade market is beginning to heat up.

On December 10, Katie Woo and Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reported , citing a league source, that Donovan remains on the Dodgers’ radar. Meanwhile, Woo reported on December 13 , citing sources familiar with negotiations, that the Seattle Mariners and Giants have emerged as front-runners for Donovan.

Amid rumors linking Donovan to the Dodgers and Giants, NBC Sports Bay Area’s Alex Pavlovic shared his thoughts on San Francisco’s interest in the Cardinals‘ versatile player.

“You think of adding someone like Donovan to the core they already have and maybe trying to slug next year to see where you’re at, while hoping some of the young pitching comes along; I still don’t think that’s the way to win in San Francisco,” Pavlovic said on the December 15 edition of “Giants Talk.”

“I think Donovan makes a lot of sense to be involved in that market, and it does potentially open things up. If you have that guy at second base, it opens up your current second baseman as someone you can include in trades for pitching. There are a lot of different ways this could go.”

Giants Insider Gives More Words on Brendan Donovan Rumor

Moreover, Pavlovic stated what he’s hearing about what the Giants would need to give up if they want to edge the Mariners, Dodgers, or any other team to land the Cardinals’ utility player.

“I’ve heard they want young controllable starting pitching. You look at the weird Royals-Brewers trade [on December 14] , where it turns out Milwaukee just really wanted that lefty, and they’re like, ‘We can fix them.’ There are teams that’ll do that, and maybe a team looks at Carson Whisenhunt or Hayden Birdsong and goes, ‘We love that. We’ve always loved that guy. We wanted him in the draft.’

“They can trade some of those guys. I also think they need them in-house to fill. That’s where I just kind of go back to: If you’re trying to find an improvement at second base, and you have to trade a couple young pitchers away, that just further strips away from your pitching depth chart, which is not great at the moment.”

What Would the Cardinals Want?

In the report from Woo on the Giants’ interest, she revealed the prospect names the Cardinals could want in a trade for Donovan, who hit .287 with 132 hits, 10 home runs, 50 RBIs, and 64 runs scored in 118 games in 2025.

“Several top prospects have been discussed in negotiations, including infielder Gavin Kilen and left-hander Carson Whisenhunt, according to a league source,” Woo wrote. “It’s believed at least two organizational prospects will be required to land Donovan, who has acquired interest from over half the league.

“Both Seattle and San Francisco also remain engaged in trade talks with Arizona Diamondbacks All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte, with the Giants exploring all options — both via trade and free agency — at second base.”

Eduardo Razo Eduardo Razo is a sports journalist covering the NFL for Heavy.com. He previously covered the league for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, and has contributed as a freelance writer for The Sporting News. He also served as an editor for Athlon Sports and Heavy Sports focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo