So far this offseason, the Seattle Mariners have re-signed first baseman Josh Naylor to a five-year deal, acquired hard-throwing reliever Jose Ferrer and signed veteran Rob Refsynder.

Thus far, I classify the Mariners' offseason as "good," though after a tough loss in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, we obviously want to see the offseason become great.

In order to achieve that, there's probably one more solid move that needs to be made, and the name we've heard a lot about has been Brendan Donovan of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Mariners fans have become frustrated at the idea of acquiring Donovan given the reported high price tag that the Cardinals have on trading for him, but Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic recently added an interesting caveat to the whole thing.

Donovan also is under club control for only two more seasons, the second of which is threatened by a lockout. The Kansas City Royals remain among the teams interested, but if the Cardinals prefer premium young bats, the Seattle Mariners are perhaps the best fit.

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Why that's so interesting

All along, we've heard that the Cardinals want pitching in a deal, and Jordan Shusterman of Yahoo! Sports recently told the 'Refuse to Lose' podcast that he thinks they'd still want pitching for Donovan.

However, if the Cardinals are open to the idea of acquiring a position player, perhaps that better suits the M's.  If the Mariners don't want to trade Jurrangelo Cijntje, Ryan Sloan or Kade Anderson, maybe they'd be more willing to move Laz Montes, Michael Arroyo, Cole Young, or Tai Peete.

It still feels like Colt Emerson is off the table, and perhaps Jonny Farmelo too.

How could the Mariners utilize Donovan?

Presuming they keep Young in a deal, they'd have to get creative.

For example, if Young was at second, and Donovan was at designated hitter, that would force Dominic Canzone to right field. So what happens to Luke Raley and Victor Robles?

If they put Donovan in left field and Randy Arozarena at DH, the same questions persist.

Donovan is a good player, but he comes with questions beyond just the prospect cost.

Additional note

Earlier on Wednesday, we wrote about the possibility of the Mariners potentially matching up with the Chicago Cubs in a deal for Nico Hoerner. One of the hold ups in that possible deal could have been the Cubs desire for starting pitching, which the M's don't really have to spare (at the big-league level).

With the Cubs acquiring Edward Cabrera since then, perhaps the asking price would change there too, also helping Seattle.

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