When the Seattle Mariners acquired Brendan Donovan from the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night, some people were thrilled, while others were disappointed at the volume of assets the M's gave up, including third baseman Ben Williamson, prospects Jurrangelo Cijntje and Tai Peete, as well as the No. 68 pick in the MLB Draft.

In my estimation, the Mariners handled this move well, especially from a player perspective. We'll talk about the draft pick in a subsequent piece, but let's examine this from all sides, as I did on the most recent 'Refuse to Lose' podcast.

In getting Brendan Donovan, the Mariners have added another All-Star to their lineup, pairing him with fellow All-Stars Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodriguez and Randy Arozarena. Donovan struck out just 13 percent of the time in 2025 and gives the M's more contact ability, which we saw wins in the playoffs.

Furthermore, Donovan likely answers the question of "who hits leadoff for the Mariners," and because he can play multiple positions, he adds versatility to the lineup without blocking Colt Emerson and Cole Young from getting their opportunities.

From the podcast: 

"Now I don't like losing Ben Williamson. He's a very nice guy. I got a chance to talk with him. When you get a chance to know a guy a little bit in person, you root for that guy... I love a flared single to right field and good defense. Like, it's fun to watch an old school throwback player, but ask yourself this: Did Ben Williamson really have a place on this Mariners team?

We spent months wondering if the Mariners should bring back Eugenio Suarez. If the Mariners did bring back Geno, there wouldn't have been room for Ben Williamson.

We've spent months talking about, can Colt Emerson win the opening day job? If he does, there's no room for Ben Williamson, and if he didn't win the opening day job, everyone's just counting down until Colt Emerson came up to take it from him.

So, if you were someone that wanted to bring back Geno, if you're someone who wants to give the job to Emerson, or if you're someone who thinks, "Hey, let Emerson start in Triple A and play there for a month and then come up and get the job," then you didn't think that Ben Williamson really had a spot on this team.

And, Ben Williamson is not athletic enough to be the super utility guy that this team needs. He doesn't have the speed that Dylan Moore had. He doesn't have the speed that Ryan Bliss has. He doesn't have the speed that Leo Rivas has. He doesn't provide the switch-hitting ability that Leo Rivas does. He doesn't have the pop that Ryan Bliss has. He doesn't have the total versatility that Miles Mastrobuoni has.

There was really no easy spot for Ben Williamson on this roster, and if Ben Williamson got regular everyday playing time, a lot of people would've thought that that was a whiff on the Mariners' calculations."

"There are a handful of Mariners' prospects that we've all been conditioned to love and that we've all been told should be off limits. Right? The prospect hoarders among us have told us to keep Ryan Sloan out of deals. They did. They've told us to keep Kade Anderson out of deals. They did. They've told us to keep Jonny Farmelo out of deals. They did. We wanted them to keep Laz Montes out of deals. They did.

We know Laz Montes has a volatile skillset. We know he might fail, but we'd rather see him fail for us than go and be traded to somebody else and turn into Yordan Alvarez. They kept Laz Montas. They kept Colt Emerson. They kept Cole Young. They traded away the major league infielder you would've rather traded away in Ben Williamson. So, if you were able to keep Sloan, Anderson, Montes, Farmelo, oh, by the way, Michael Arroyo, oh, by the way, Felnin Celesten, oh, by the way, Luke Stevenson, like, that to me is a win."

If you got the best player in the deal AND didn't give up any of your true untouchables, I think it's fair to say the Mariners did well in this deal.

Look, it's not always popular, but at some point, you have to trust Jerry Dipoto and Justin Hollander to their jobs well. The Mariners traded away top prospects in Noelvi Marte, Edwin Arroyo and Brandon Williamson in 2022, and still cultivated the great farm system they have today. They traded away Aidan Smith and Brody Hopkins for Randy Arozarena in 2024, and still had a great farm system.

They have shown the ability to draft and develop, and they will continue to do so, even without Cijntje and Peete.

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