The St. Louis Cardinals are playing much better baseball as of late, and have even crept up towards the .500 mark. Although it may not be enough to capture a Wild Card berth, the Cardinals are carrying a little bit of momentum heading into the offseason, where the new president of baseball operations, Chaim Bloom, will have a lot of decisions on his hands.
There is expected to be a shake-up in roster personnel, and the offseason is wide open for trade potential, which has Cardinal fans speculating who the front office should consider moving on from.
Should St. Louis trade away Brendan Donovan?
Many Cardinal fans have a sentimental attachment to Brendan Donovan. He was their only all-star this season and is a solid fundamental player. However, is Donovan really going to move the needle in terms of taking the Cardinals’ offense over the top?
He’s a productive player, but his OPS (.750) this season is average, and he has only nine home runs in 110 games this season. Chaim Bloom could move off Donovan and either get a decent prospect in return or a mid-lever starter that can slot right into the Cardinals’ rotation.
The Cardinals have already somewhat indicated that they are headed towards a rebuild, so why hold onto Donovan? He’s about to enter an arbitration hearing in the offseason, but will likely remain at a similar contract of one year, $3 million.
Donovan garnered some trade discussion during the trade deadline season, and you can expect teams to be calling Bloom about him in the offseason as well. If the Cardinals are truly setting up for the future, moving off Donovan wouldn’t be a terrible idea. He’s been with the club for four full seasons, and the team has made the postseason just one time during that span, and it was in his first year with the big league club.
It’s certainly something for the front office to think about during the final weeks of the season, as the offseason for the Cardinals is rapidly approaching.
