Brendan Donovan of the St. Louis Cardinals has long been a player of interest to the Yankees, and this offseason could be the one where he gets dealt.
MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reported that the Astros, Yankees, and Guardians are among teams interested in trading for Donovan, reporting that the buzz around his trade market this winter is high.
While the Yankees already have a second baseman in Jazz Chisholm, New York could shuffle Donovan around the diamond as he plays corner infield and outfield positions as well.
Whether New York is highly motivated to trade for him or not remains to be seen, but his bat is one that profiles to fit Yankee Stadium well.
Brendan Donovan Is Piquing the Yankees’ Interest on the Trade Market
This past season was a strong one for Brendan Donovan, who was named to the 2025 National League All-Star team during a year where he hit .287 with a 119 wRC+ across 118 games.
Injuries have plagued the left-handed hitting utilityman at times, failing to play 130 games in three of his four MLB seasons, but when on the field he’s been very effective.
Donovan has yet to produce a season with an OBP below .342 or an OPS below 759, providing contact and some occassional power that could grow more in a ballpark such as Yankee Stadium.
Baseball Savant estimates that Brendan Donovan would have hit 15 home runs compared to just 10 if he played all of his games at Yankee Stadium, but does it make sense for the Yankees to spend prospect capital on him?
Some could argue that Donovan’s bat-to-ball abilities are more appealing stylistically, but Jazz Chisholm produced more WAR, a higher OPS, and ran the bases better.
Injuries are a worry for Chisholm, but as detailed earlier, they exist for the Cardinals’ All-Star representative as well, and while they’d get an extra year of control out of Brendan Donovan, it would deplete some of their prospect capital.
A return of Trent Grisham might not be the worst thing in the world if the team is able to retain Cody Bellinger, but if they need to pivot from the Scott Boras client, having prospect capital will be key.
New York and St. Louis could discuss a deal that includes Lars Nootbaar, but ultimately the focus for Brian Cashman seems to be with his outfield and pitching staff, not the infield.