Brendan Donovan to the Mariners deal is close (3 team trade with Rays)

[phins]

Ledbetter is a nice throw-in prospect as well. He's produced meaningful pop in the past, and unlike most of our swing-and-miss prospects, he lifts and pulls the ball already.

My hesitation is how often do the Rays trade away a prospect that they end up wrong on? It sure isn't often.

[phins]

KC article that talked about what the Royals could've offered to be similar to this deal:

Sean Gamble, FanGraphs gave him a 40+ FV, but you could see the Royals thought more as they have him $4M to sign away from Vandy.

Transferred from a Des Moines high school to IMG. Big power despite medium frame. One of the loudest and more consistent BPs of any 2025 high schooler. Put multiple balls in the Chase Field pool during PG All-American sessions. Head kicks around when he's swinging in games; ran a 70% contact rate on the showcase circuit, which isn't great. Swing has natural uppercut, but length into the hitting zone often causes him to be a little late and pepper the oppo gap. Swing-and-miss risk with lots of in-game whiffs versus pitches up and away from him. Power-over-hit corner profile, platoon look. Lots of lefty power means he's still a priority, second round type.

Kendry Chourio, an 18 y/o RHP who has played up a level already. He kind of popped like their version of a Rainel Rodriguez etc. but obviously to a much lesser degree:

Chourio is a fairly undersized righty with a good curveball whose fastball will creep into the mid-90s.

Comp pick A, which is pick 30 (bonus pool of $3.13M exceeds the values of #68 & #72 at $2.4M)

That pick is exciting, which helps the Royals' offer, but I think I'd still prefer the players who have advanced further in their development and the overall quantity of what we got. To be clear, this isn't a report of an offer, but what they feel is equivalent to what the Mariners gave up.

[CardsofSTL]

Bloom discussing the Donovan trade

[TGantz]

Sounds like adding a RH OF is still on their radar.

Andujar seems like the best fit. He can play OF and cover 1B for Burly.

Or trade Jojo for an OF

[Lesson]

Bloom discussing the Donovan trade

Interesting that he mentioned Williamson by name and how Tampa became involved. Seems like the Cardinals preferred Ledbetter + pick over Williamson as part of the return in part because of the position Williamson plays.

[CardsofSTL]

Bloom discussing the Donovan trade

Interesting that he mentioned Williamson by name and how Tampa became involved. Seems like the Cardinals preferred Ledbetter + pick over Williamson as part of the return in part because of the position Williamson plays.

Also why trade for Williamson when you can keep Donovan. They wanted the prospect pick package

[Lesson]

Bloom discussing the Donovan trade

Interesting that he mentioned Williamson by name and how Tampa became involved. Seems like the Cardinals preferred Ledbetter + pick over Williamson as part of the return in part because of the position Williamson plays.

Also why trade for Williamson when you can keep Donovan. They wanted the prospect pick package

Immediately before that he was talking about Gorman and alluded to the fact that the reason the Cardinals weren’t as interested in Williamson was to give more opportunities to other players in the infield.

[Fan_In_NY]

Bloom discussing the Donovan trade

Interesting that he mentioned Williamson by name and how Tampa became involved. Seems like the Cardinals preferred Ledbetter + pick over Williamson as part of the return in part because of the position Williamson plays.

Also why trade for Williamson when you can keep Donovan. They wanted the prospect pick package

Immediately before that he was talking about Gorman and alluded to the fact that the reason the Cardinals weren’t as interested in Williamson was to give more opportunities to other players in the infield.

And Williamson should be in the majors now - Ledbetter + the pick help in 2027 and 2028, etc. If the Cards didnt have an option for 3B right now maybe its a closer decision, but for a team that is going to win between 65-75 games having Gorman or Saggesse at 3B versus Williamson doesnt matter. Get two potential lottery tickets in Ledbetter and a Comp pick

[CardsofSTL]

Season debut