The Mariners could find themselves in a 'bidding' war with the San Francisco Giants
One of the biggest lingering dominoes of the past two offseasons finally fell on Jan. 13.
The St. Louis Cardinals traded multi-time Platinum Glove-winning third baseman Nolan Arenado to the Arizona Diamondbacks, ending a year-long saga of the eight-time All-Star looking to move on from St. Louis.
On the same day the Cardinals made the Arenado trade, ESPN's MLB insider Jeff Passan posted a report on "X" that could spell bad news for the Seattle Mariners.
According to Passan's report, National League West club, the San Francisco Giants, are "aggressively pursuing" second basemen and have had conversations with the Cardinals for Brendan Donovan and the Chicago Cubs for Nico Hoerner.
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Passan's latest report follows one from Dec. 13 via the Athletic's Katie Woo that said the Giants and Mariners were the favorites to land Donovan.
Woo's report also said St. Louis was looking for two top minor league prospects in a return for Donovan. The report specifically mentioned a pair of top 100 Seattle minor leaguers, switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje and outfielder Lazaro Montes, as players the Cardinals were interested in.
Woo's report stated conversations between the Mariners and St. Louis "picked up steam" during MLB winter meetings in December but there's been no trade since.
Seattle is regarded to have a better frame system than San Francisco and the hang up on a potential deal could be the prospects the Mariners are willing to send in return for Donovan.
If the Giants manage to swoop in and acquire Donovan, a 2025 All-Star, then Seattle would be forced to either look toward Hoerner themselves, or an in-house option.
This past season, Donovan slashed .287/.353/.422 with a .775 OPS in 118 games and hit 32 doubles and 10 home runs with 50 RBIs.
Hoerner slashed .297/.345/.394 with a .739 OPS in 156 games with Chicago. He hit 29 doubles, four triples and seven homers with 61 RBIs.
If the Mariners go in-house, Cole Young or Ryan Bliss would be the likeliest options.
Young made his major league debut this past season and slashed .211/.302/.305 with a .607 OPS in 77 games. He hit seven doubles, a triple and four home runs with 24 RBIs.
Bliss entered 2025 as Seattle's starting second baseman, but missed most of the season due to torn left biceps and then he suffered a damaged meniscus while on a rehab assignment with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers in September.
Bliss slashed .200/.282/.314 with a .596 OPS. He hit a double and a home run with three RBIs in 11 games.
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