The New York Yankees have a need in the infield and a trade pitch sees the AL front-runner has them acquiring a Gold Glove infielder.
MLB analyst Rucker Haringey of FanSided proposed a deal that would see the Yankees acquiring Brendan Donovan from the St. Louis Cardinals to two top prospects.
Yankees acquire:
Cardinals acquire:
The proposed deal is interesting and does make sense for both teams. New York would solidify its infield while St. Louis gets two top prospects to help its rebuild.
Donovan is in arbitration and has three years of team control left. The infielder won the Gold Glove in 2022. Donovan hit .278 with 14 home runs and 73 RBIs in 2024 with the Cardinals. He would be projected to be New York’s second baseman which would keep Jazz Chisholm Jr. at third base.
In return, the Yankees would deal two top prospects in Perreira and Warren. Perreira is an outfielder and is New York’s 10th-ranked prospect. He hit .265 with 10 home runs and 27 RBIs in Triple-A last season and projects to be in the majors this season.
The big part of the return for the Cardinals would be Warren. The right-hander is New York’s fifth-ranked prospect and could push for a rotation spot this season, but he’s blocked with the Yankees. Warren went 6-5 with a 5.91 ERA in 23 starts in Triple-A last season.
Analyst Makes Case for Yankees-Cardinals Trade
On paper, the proposed deal makes sense as both teams fill some needs.
The Yankees get its second baseman, while St. Louis sheds some salary for two top prospects to help their rebuild.
“Everson Pereira could headline the deal,” Haringey wrote. “He’s a former top-five prospect whose career has been slightly derailed due to injury. There’s not room for him in New York’s outfield right now, but he could force his way onto the Cardinals’ big-league roster next year, and his tools are stil pretty loud.
“Will Warren would be the second player in the deal headed to the Cardinals,” Haringey added. “He is a valuable depth piece for New York’s starting rotation but the team’s offseason acquisition of Max Fried makes him somewhat superfluous in the Bronx. In theory, the Yankees could circle back and replace him on the depth chart in a separate Stroman deal with another team.”
The analyst believes Warren would be a middle-of-the-rotation arm for the Cardinals. Haringey also thinks it would be a good return for Donovan, despite him having three years of control left.
“Cardinals fans might want to see more upside in a potential Donovan deal, but they would get two top-10 prospects from the Yankees in this trade. That’s a nice return for a solid regular who seems to be outside the team’s price range and not quite on its competitive timeline,” Haringey concluded.
St. Louis Wasn’t Interested in Long-Term Deal With Donovan
Donovan and the Cardinals exchanged their arbitration numbers as they couldn’t come to an agreement on a contract.
However, according to MLB.com Cardinals reporter John Denton, the team didn’t have an interest in a long-term deal with Donovan.
“#STLCards and Brendan Donovan failed to reach a contract agreement before today’s deadline, a source told MLB.com. The sides could be headed to an arbitration hearing in late Jan. Shockingly, the Cards had little interest in signing Donovan to a multi-year deal, a source said,” Denton wrote on X.
Donovan was selected in the seventh round of the 2018 MLB draft by St. Louis.
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Trade Proposal Has Yankees Acquiring Gold Glove Infielder For 2 Top Prospects