On Sunday, Chris Cotillo of MassLIVE suggested that St. Louis Cardinals infielder Brendan Donovan could make sense for the Boston Red Sox in a trade this offseason.

“He can play either second or third pretty well, and though he hits lefthanded, which is sub-optimal, he’d make some sense for the Red Sox, whose entire infield, save for shortstop, remains undefined.

The most appealing part of Donovan’s game for a team looking to make more contact? He puts the ball in play, with a career strikeout rate of just 13.51 percent and a .361 OBP.”

Let's understand a few things first and foremost:

1) Donovan does appear to be available in a trade, so several fanbases and writers are linking their teams to him. He's become one of the more popular trade candidates this offseason.

2) There has been no official report of the Red Sox being interested in Donovan; this is just one writer's opinion.

3) Donovan makes sense for every team in baseball because he's good, under team control for two more seasons and affordable.

This deal doesn't make as much sense for the Red Sox as McAdam thinks, given that Marcelo Mayer and Kristian Campbell need ways to find playing time in 2026 (and the team is trying to bring back Alex Bregman), but the deal does make some sense from the perspective of the Cardinals.

Why?

Because Chaim Bloom knows the Red Sox organization very well. Bloom has been tasked with rebuilding the Cardinals farm system and helping their player development pipeline and he has no greater knowledge of any other system than the Red Sox's.

In fact, he drafted or signed several of the Red Sox top prospects and young players including Mayer, Campbell and the uber-talented Roman Anthony. While Anthony will be off-limits in any trade talks, perhaps Bloom could find a way to get Mayer, who he drafted with the No. 4 pick in the 2021 MLB Draft.

If the Cardinals want to avoid infielders because they already have top prospect J.J. Wetherholt, the Red Sox have outfielders to choose from, including the powerful Jhostynxon Garcia. 

In addition to the idea of trading Donovan, it's worth pointing out that Tyler Milliken of the Section 10 podcast thinks that Willson Contreras could be a fit for the Red Sox.

That would also give Bloom an avenue to utilize his Boston connections.

The Cardinals don't need to be in any rush to trade Donovan, as he's under contract for those next two seasons. They need to work on a resolution to the Nolan Arenado situation first, and then they need to focus on Sonny Gray. Contreras is probably the next priority.

The winter meetings begin Dec. 7.

ADOLIS GARCIA POSSIBILITY? Recently non-tendered by the Rangers, could Garcia be a fit for Boston? CLICK HERE: 

BELTRAN TO HALL?: The former Cardinals All-Star looks like he'll be getting into the Hall of Fame in 2026. Here's the ballot. CLICK HERE: 

THE ARENADO BLUEPRINT: If the Cardinals are going to move the future Hall of Famer, this could be the way to do it. CLICK HERE: 

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