The St. Louis Cardinals finished off one of longest-running storylines of offseason the week before pitchers and catchers reported to spring training.

After months of rumors and reports, the Cardinals dealt their only All-Star from last season, utility player Brendan Donovan, to the Seattle Mariners in a three-team deal that also included the Tampa Bay Rays.

St. Louis was able to get a decent return of prospects and draft picks from both the Rays and Mariners in return for Donovan. The Cardinals netted two Competitive Balance Round B picks, one from each Tampa and Seattle, and outfield prospects Tai Peete (formerly Mariners) and Colt Ledbetter (formerly Rays).

The "headliner" of the trade for St. Louis, however, was one of the most notable prospects of the last two seasons: switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje.

The former Mississippi State hurler was Seattle's first-round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft and drew instant notoriety for his ambidextrous ability.

In his first professional season last year, Cijntje posted a solid 3.99 ERA and struck out 120 batters in 108.1 innings pitched across 26 appearances (23 starts) in High-A and Double-A. He held opposing hitters to a .207 batting average.

Despite Cijntje (No. 91 MLB Pipeline top 100) possessing the unique ability of switch-pitching, it became very clear across his first pro season that he was better throwing from the right side than the left. He touched the upper-90-mph range and flirted with triple-digits with his fastball several times from the right-side compared to a fastball that maxed out in the mid-90s from the left.

Before the Mariners traded Cijntje to Cardinals, the M's confirmed they would have Cijntje pitch from the right side in games and work from the both sides in bullpens.

St. Louis manager Oli Marmol confirmed how the Cards' plans for the 22-year-old, and those plans aren't dissimilar to how Seattle planned on utilizing Cijntje.

"What we’ve committed to for big-league camp is that he will throw from the right side when he’s in games or lives," Marmol said in a story written by Brenden Schaeffer for St. Louis Sports Central. "And then he will continue to work from both sides otherwise."

Cijntje declined the opportunity to compete for the Netherlands in the 2026 World Baseball Classic due to a desire to focus on working and improving going into his second season. Mariners general manager Justin Hollander opined before the trade that it was a very real possibility the former Bulldog could make his major league debut in 2026.

If Cijntje is able to hone his already-impressive arsenal from the right side, he could end up making an impact for the Cardinals sooner rather than later.

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