The Boston Red Sox have been active this offseason when it comes to trades. While they haven’t made any major moves in free agency yet, Craig Breslow and the front office have completed three trades so far, two of them involving the St. Louis Cardinals.
St. Louis is now led by president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, who previously held the same position in Boston. With the Cardinals viewed as a team in rebuilding mode, the Red Sox have played a role in that process. Boston first acquired Sonny Gray, and on Sunday, Willson Contreras was also dealt to the Red Sox.
The St. Louis Cardinals have many other tradeable assets that contenders like the Red Sox could use to help improve their team. Brendan Donovan is a name that has floated around in trade talks for quite some time.
The Athletic’s Will Sammon and Ken Rosenthal report that the Red Sox have had conversations with the St. Louis Cardinals about a trade that would send infielder/outfielder Brendan Donovan to Boston.
In what would be a massive offseason deal again for both sides, the Cardinals may ask for starter Brayan Bello in return. Boston has a plethora of young arms trading for Sonny Gray, and they’ve already traded one away (Hunter Dobbins). Bello posted a 3.35 ERA over 166.2 innings in 2025, proving that he was Boston’s second or third rotation option.
Rosenthal and Sammon also report that Bello’s name surfaces when teams ask about the Red Sox’s young starters.
However, the Red Sox need an infielder, specifically a second baseman, and Brendan Donovan is also an attractive target.
How Would Brendan Donovan Help Boston?
After acquiring Willson Contreras, that clears up first base for Boston. However, the Red Sox are still searching for another middle-infielder to pair with Trevor Story.
Donovan, 28, is coming off his first All-Star season in which he recorded 10 home runs and 50 RBI while posting an OPS+ of 119 across 118 games. He still has a few seasons left of team control.
His career OPS+ is 117 over 492 games. Although he doesn’t hit for much power in terms of home runs, Donovan has back-to-back seasons of 30+ doubles and 130 hits. He strikes out at a microscopic rate and would fit perfectly in this Boston lineup between Roman Anthony and Willson Contreras.
Because the Red Sox have already acquired Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo, plus some of the other rotation options Boston feels good about (Tolle, Early, Harrison), they may have the luxury to offload Brayan Bello now and have the Cardinals eat some of that contract.
