The Cardinals all of a sudden have a lot of leverage with Brendan Donovan.
This has been a very good week for Chaim Bloom and the St. Louis Cardinals.
See, Bloom has Brendan Donovan, one of the most valuable trade chips in baseball, still on his 40-man roster.
Some of us have questioned if Bloom was being too stingy in his desired return for Donovan, but it appears as if he has played this perfectly.
Earlier this week, the Arizona Diamondbacks said that Ketel Marte was not actually available in a trade. This meant that one excellent bat was off the market, making Donovan more desirable to other teams. Then, Alex Bregman signed with the Chicago Cubs on Saturday night, further depleting the market.
The Boston Red Sox, who were known Bregman suitors, are now desperate to fill the void he leaves behind. Sure, Bo Bichette could do that, but the suddenly cash-conscious Red Sox could be more inclined to go after Donovan, who is making just $5.8 million in arbitration in 2026.
And the Seattle Mariners, who are not going to pay up for Bichette, are running out of options too, and they are known to be very involved in the Donovan market.
By holding out, Bloom has created a situation where he's got the last musical chair, and he could have 4-5 teams battling for it. For a team that wants to extract as much value as possible in every deal it makes, that's a very good position to be in.
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Also on the Cardinals front
--The financial details on Ryne Stanek's new deal are out. He'll make $3.5 million in 2026 and there's a club option for 2027 at $6 million. That seems unlikely to be exercised, but it's nice for the team to have if Stanek performs well. Of course, there's a good chance that Stanek is traded at the trade deadline if he's having a good season.
Mark Feinsand of MLB.com had the information on his deal.
--In addition to the conversation around Donovan, the Cardinals are expected to move on from Nolan Arenado, though it's unclear if they'll trade him or end up designating him for assignment. St. Louis is also expected to deal JoJo Romero, though it's unknown if they'll do that before the season or at the trade deadline. For the moment, he creates a back-end bullpen trio with Riley O'Brien and Stanek. It's unknown who the club will use in the closer's role if that mix holds.
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