SEATTLE -- The Mariners have finally reeled in that coveted bat to round out their 2026 lineup.
The club on Monday acquired infielder/outfielder Brendan Donovan from the Cardinals as part of a three-team trade that included the Rays, the Mariners announced.
TRADE DETAILS
Mariners acquire: INF/OF Brendan Donovan
Cardinals acquire: RHP Jurrangelo Cijntje (MLB's No. 91 prospect, per MLB Pipeline); OF Tai Peete (was Mariners' No. 11 prospect, now Cardinals' No. 15); OF Colton Ledbetter (was Rays' No. 24 prospect); Competitive Balance Round B picks (No. 68 overall, from Mariners; No. 72 overall, from Rays)
Rays acquire: 3B Ben Williamson
The Mariners paid a sizable price to do so, parting with two recent first-round picks, a recent second-rounder and a Competitive Balance Round B selection for 2026 (No. 68 overall). The cost underscored how badly they wanted Donovan to round out what they believe will be one of the most complete rosters in the American League.
“It’s tough to imagine a better fit for our current team than Brendan,” Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said in a statement. “His combination of offensive skill, defensive versatility, consistency in performance, baseball instincts and quality of character line up with what we value most.”
In Seattle, the acquisition essentially ends a staring contest with St. Louis that had extended for much of the offseason. Donovan had long been a top priority for the Mariners’ front office, but it had not been able to reach a price point with the Cards on a return package. The clubs were in negotiations as far back as last season and then again shortly after the World Series and into the General Managers Meetings in November and Winter Meetings in December, per sources.
St. Louis, meanwhile, has been in the midst of a roster overhaul under new president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, with Donovan being his best trade asset among an offseason sell-off that has included veterans Nolan Arenado, Willson Contreras and Sonny Gray. Shedding that payroll, per reports, was a more paramount priority than negotiating on Donovan, which is why he wasn’t moved until less than two weeks before Spring Training.
Donovan, 29, is expected to be injected near the top of the Mariners’ lineup, and he gives manager Dan Wilson even more versatility with his defensive alignment. Donovan likely will move to the top of the third-base depth chart, for now, but that could hinge on how Spring Training performances shake out -- notably among young infielders Colt Emerson and Cole Young.
A first-time All-Star in 2025, Donovan has been primarily a second baseman over his four-year career (225 games), but he also has experience at first base (30 games), third base (46), shortstop (14), left field (163) and right field (30). In 2022, he was the first rookie in Cards history to win a Gold Glove Award.
Donovan’s bat, however, is just as much why the Mariners were interested in acquiring him. He has a career slash line of .282/.361/.411 (.772 OPS) with 40 home runs, 97 doubles, five triples and 202 RBIs -- good for 10.1 wins above replacement, per FanGraphs, and 119 wRC+. (MLB average is 100.) He also sported a 13.5% strikeout rate that was MLB’s 15th-best among 306 qualified hitters in that span, making him an ideal contact specialist at T-Mobile Park, one of the sport’s least friendly hitter environments.
Donovan avoided salary arbitration last month by agreeing to a 2026 deal worth $5.8 million, according to a source, and he will remain under club contractual control for the next two seasons.
In the Mariners’ eyes, that’s precisely why Donovan is an ideal bridge to the club’s younger infielders and within their long-term plans -- even with the departure of Williamson, whose void could open up an even clearer long-term path to an Opening Day roster spot for Emerson, ranked by MLB Pipeline as the sport’s No. 9 overall prospect.
Mariners general manager Justin Hollander reiterated his conviction that young infielders Emerson, Young and Williamson would be a big part of the club’s plans for 2026 as recently as Sunday during FanFest at T-Mobile Park. Yet, for a team that came eight outs shy of its first World Series last October, there was also the reality that its title window is firmly open and that its roster needed one more proven bat. Williamson was part of the cost for that bat.
The club brought back first baseman Josh Naylor (five-year, $92.5 million contract on Nov. 17) at the offseason’s outset, but had since lost Jorge Polanco (two-year, $40 million contract with the Mets on Dec. 16) and Eugenio Suárez (one-year, $15 million agreement with the Reds on Sunday) from the 2025 core.
Donovan gives Seattle’s lineup a whopping five All-Stars from the previous two seasons, along with Naylor, Julio Rodríguez, Cal Raleigh and Randy Arozarena.
The Mariners’ avenue to acquire Donovan opened wider over the weekend, after the Giants -- who were prominently linked to him in trade talks -- pivoted and agreed to terms with three-time batting champion Luis Arraez on a one-year, $12 million deal to play second base. But there were even more teams interested in Donovan earlier this offseason, before St. Louis began its significant sell-off.
His affordability and versatility were why. Compared to Arenado, Contreras and Gray -- who each had no-trade clauses and were on eight-figure contracts – Donovan is much younger.
He’s also an above-average hitter who can play all over, which makes him a more versatile option for the 2026 roster over Polanco and Suárez when accounting for Emerson and Young -- both of whom will be given every chance to make the team out of Spring Training. Young is the leading candidate for the second-base job, while Emerson should see action all over the diamond.
As for the Rays’ presence, Monday’s transaction marks the 16th involving Seattle and Tampa Bay since Dipoto took over in the 2015-16 offseason.
The players and picks they gave up
Cijntje, who was just in Seattle to celebrate FanFest, was the Mariners' first-round Draft pick in 2024, when he was taken No. 15 overall as an ambidextrous switch-pitcher out of Mississippi State. (The Mariners had announced on Sunday that the club was going to focus on the 22-year-old as a right-hander entering 2026.) He became the Cards' No. 4 prospect following the trade.
While Hollander stated the club’s need for longer-term starting pitching depth, scouts have suggested that Cijntje’s ceiling is not as high as Ryan Sloan (Seattle’s No. 4 prospect) and Kade Anderson (No. 2). Anderson, whom the club selected with the No. 3 overall pick in last year’s Draft out of LSU, could be in the Majors as soon as late this season.
COMPLETE MARINERS PROSPECT COVERAGE
Peete was the No. 30 overall pick as part of the Mariners’ loaded haul in the 2023 Draft. He has put up a .724 OPS in 264 Minor League games, topping out at High-A last season. Originally an infielder, Peete transitioned to the outfield last season and showed the athleticism to stick in center field. He became St. Louis' No. 15 prospect following the deal.
Williamson, the No. 57 overall pick in 2023, played in 85 games after making his MLB debut last April 15, and was immediately one of the best defensive third basemen in the league. But his roster spot became a casualty at the Trade Deadline, when the Mariners landed Suárez to play third base in a blockbuster with the D-backs. Williamson, who wound up finishing the season at Triple-A Tacoma, slashed .253/.294/.310 (.604 OPS) in the Majors.
As for the Draft pick, it’s just the second that Dipoto and Hollander have ever traded (the first being a Competitive Balance Round B pick to acquire reliever Gregory Santos in the 2023-24 offseason). Competitive Balance Round picks are the only ones that can be traded, and they can only be traded by the club to which it was awarded. The No. 68 selection was Seattle’s third-highest in the 2026 Draft, behind No. 24 (first round) and No. 65 (second round).
Dipoto and Hollander typically have had pause in trading eligible Draft picks. That they included one here -- along with the three players who were high picks -- underscores just how much urgency they felt to acquire Donovan.