Latest Royals-Cardinals trade rumor gaining steam and sounds like a perfect match

In an offseason fueled on upgrading this team after experiencing the painful reality of reverting back to their usual "Octoberless" ways in 2025, three things are currently true about the Kansas City Royals:

One, their current second base duo of Jonathan India and Michael Massey is not giving them nearly enough production.

Two, they're in dire need of corner outfield help after their rotating cast of veterans and rookies failed to come close to meeting expectations in 2025.

Three, they have more starting pitchers than places in the starting rotation.

Obviously J.J. Picollo and the Royals front office will need to address all of these things at somepoint this winter. But what if there was a way to tackle all three of these in one fell swoop?

Enter Brendan Donovan and the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Cardinals have seemingly been rumored to be shopping their All-Star utility man for some time now, and according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, there seems to be a bit of a Show-Me State link here that could make all the sense in the world.

Royals and Cardinals could be the perfect trade partners for a Brendan Donovan deal

Goold reported on Thursday morning that the Royals were among those intested in Donovan's services in the early stages of the offseason.

"Count [the Royals] among teams interested in Brendan Donovan, per sources," Goold wrote on X.

"They're open to talk about trading one of their starters to find a bat," he also wrote. "[The Cardinals] are shopping for a [starter]."

It makes sense as to why the Cardinals would be interested in trading Donovan this winter. The utility man has a coveted pair of team control remaining this year with a projected 2026 arbitration salary between $5-6 million, according to both MLB Trade Rumors and Spotrac.

St. Louis has also missed the postseason in three consecutive seasons now, meaning their competitive window may not open again while Donovan is still under team control.

And as mentioned earlier, he pairs his controllable and affordable salary with the some rock solid play on both sides of the ball.

In 2025, Donovan slashed .287/.353/.422 with 10 HR, 50 RBI, a low 13.0% strikeout rate and a 119 wRC+. He ended up cracking his first All-Star roster in the process along with being named an NL Silver Slugger finalist at the utility spot. He also managed to post 2 OAA at his more primary second base role.

Then there's the bigger window of his big league in general. Donovan has been a 2.5+ fWAR player in three of his four MLB seasons, a 115+ wRC+ hitter in every season so far, and has displayed above average defense worthy of Gold Glove back in 2022.

As mentioned earlier, while he was primarily a second baseman for the Cardinals in 2025, he has plenty of experience in left field as well as the ability to handle right field, third base and shortstop.

If the Royals like anything, it's lineup flexbility. So, to have a bat like Donovan's that could comfortably move around the diamond while being in the lineup everyday would be an extremely valuable asset for manager Matt Quatraro.

And whether it be All-Star Kris Bubic, recent young trade acquisitions like Ryan Bergert or Stephen Kolek or even standout rookie Noah Cameron, there's plenty of younger, MLB capable starting options that could be intriguing to a Cardinals team who's rotation posted the sixth highest ERA this past year.

It remains to be seen whether this deal elevates beyond it's current rumor status, but if any deal is to be considered a no-brainer this winter, it might just be this one.