The Seattle Mariners are acquiring All-Star infielder/outfielder Brendan Donovan from the St. Louis Cardinals in a three-team trade that also involves the Tampa Bay Rays, ESPN reports. Switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje is headed back from Seattle to St. Louis and the Rays are expected to get third baseman Ben Williamson from the Mariners. The Cardinals will also receive 2023 first-round draft pick Tai Peete from the Mariners and outfielder Colton Ledbetter and a compensatory draft pick from the Rays. None of the involved clubs has yet announced the trade.
- Mariners receive: UTL Brendan Donovan
- Rays receive: 3B Ben Williamson
- Cardinals receive: SHP Jurrangelo Cijntje, OF Tai Peete, OF Colton Ledbetter, two compensatory draft picks
Donovan, who’s going into his age-29 season in 2026, is coming off his first career All-Star selection this past season. His best position is second base, and he can also man first, third, and left, and cover shortstop in limited doses. At the plate, Donovan put up an OPS+ of 119 this past season, and that figure is right in line with his career mark of 117 across parts of four MLB campaigns. Furthermore, there’s cause to believe he may have found a higher level with the bat in 2025. Through the end of May, Donovan boasted a wOBA of .373 and backed it up with expected wOBA of .370. In June, though, an MRI on Donovan’s ailing left toe turned up a sprained capsule in the joint. Donovan toughed it out, but the injury cascaded throughout his lower half, messed up his swing mechanics, and sapped his production. The Mariners are no doubt hoping he’s able to rediscover and sustain that higher level moving forward.
Donovan won’t hit free agency until after the 2027 season.
Brendan Donovan trade grades: Mariners find obvious fit, Cardinals finish offseason teardown with biggest move
R.J. Anderson
He’ll slot into a lineup that includes All-Star slugger Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez, Josh Naylor and Randy Arozarena. The Mariners won the AL West in 2025 with a 90-72 record, three games ahead of the Houston Astros, before losing in the ALCS to the Toronto Blue Jays.
From the Cardinals’ standpoint, the trade of Donovan is in many ways the capstone on an offseason that’s seen them commit fully to a rebuild under first-year president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom. Earlier in the winter, Bloom and the Cardinals in a pair of deals sent right-hander Sonny Gray and first baseman/former catcher Willson Contreras to the Red Sox and then offloaded veteran third baseman Nolan Arenado to the Diamondbacks. In each deal, the Cardinals added young pitching to an organization that prior to Bloom’s takeover was starved for velocity and swing and miss. As well, ownership in each of those three deals included significant cash in order improve the return. That was especially the case in the Arenado swap. As for the Donovan trade, it not only adds young talent to an improving farm system but also fully clears the decks for top prospect JJ Wetherholt in 2026. He’s now the favorite to open the 2026 season as the Cardinals’ starting second baseman.
Cijntje, headlining the return for St. Louis, was Seattle’s first-round pick in 2024. CBS Sports’ R.J. Anderson recently ranked him the No. 7 prospect in the AL West, crediting a “sneaky good right-handed fastball as well as a swing-and-miss breaker that ought to result in a middle-of-the-rotation future,” but warned that his best future almost certainly involves pitching exclusively as a right-hander.
Peete, also headed to the Cardinals, spent all of 2025 in High A, hitting .217/.288/.404 in 125 games.
Williamson, headed south to the Rays, made his major-league debut in 2025, hitting .253/.294/.310 in 85 games for the Mariners.
Ledbetter hit .265/.337/.378 in Double A last season.