Olney was on our sister Seattle Mariners podcast and talked about Bloom with regards to a Brendan Donovan trade.
When it comes to the St. Louis Cardinals, fans are just waiting to see what the final resolution will be with All-Star utility player Brendan Donovan.
Will he actually make it to spring training on the roster, or will he be dealt like Nolan Arenado, Willson Contreras and Sonny Gray have been this offseason?
Donovan has two years left of team control, so there's no imminent need to trade him, but he's been one of the most desired trade pieces this offseason, with both the San Francisco Giants and Seattle Mariners interested in his services.
Ironically, ESPN MLB Insider Buster Olney was on our Mariners Roundtable sister podcast (Refuse to Lose) on Thursday and spoke about Donovan - and the perception of Cardinals front office leader Chaim Bloom:
"You know, we haven't talked about Brandon Donovan for a couple weeks, but I mean, they're still in that conversation from what I understand with the Cardinals. And from what I understand, that the Cardinals know what the Mariners are willing to do, and at some point the question is will St. Louis decide, 'Hey, the package that the Mariners are offering is something we take a look at?'
I would not interpret the length of these negotiations as being St. Louis dissatisfied with what Seattle's offer is or what the Giants offer is. As you know, that's just how Chaim Bloom, who's head of baseball operations and Cardinals, does business. He's known as the most deliberate front office person in the sport. And I think he's going through his process and I'm still really curious to see, you know, will the Mariners land Brendan Donovan?"
We've talked a lot about this over the last few months. Is Chaim Bloom too deliberate? During his time with the Boston Red Sox, he was known as a leader who struggled to make tough decisions and wouldn't make them unless he was winning the transaction in a landslide. The question here is "is he appropriately playing hard-to-get because he doesn't have to move Donovan?" Or, is he falling into old traps and reverting to his old self?
Because he's already moved Arenado, Gray and Contreras, the inclination is that he's handling this situation right, but we'll see where things move over the next 10 days until players begin reporting to spring training.
The Cardinals finished fourth in the National League Central in 2025 and are now going through a rebuild.
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