Red Sox continue to be a thorn in Royals' side in pursuit of perfect trade target

While the Kansas City Royals have certainly been active since the conclusion of the Winter Meetings in addressing some of their most pressing needs, such as their outfield and the backend of their bullpen, the desire for a more monumental move still remains among the fanbase.

And according to earlier reports, the Royals brass seems keen on providing that big name to the fanbase, with Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reporting on Dec. 20 that they still had interest in Boston's Jarren Duran and St. Louis' Brendan Donovan, even if they have to shed payroll to do it.

Early conversations around a Duran trade have reportedly been had between Kansas City and Boston, however, the asking price for the All-Star outfielder was initially too high.

Now, after the Red Sox have already thrown a trade curveball at the Royals, they reportedly continue to be a nuisance to KC, this time in their pursuit of Donovan, who for numerous reasons would be the ideal trade target for them.

Red Sox continue to complicate Royals path to a perfect offseason

A few days after Rosenthal's initial report, he and his colleague at The Athletic, Will Sammon, reported "The Cardinals and Red Sox also have discussed a trade that would send infielder/outfielder Brendan Donovan to Boston."

Then, over the weekend, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reported that Donovan was one of the Red Sox's "primary targets".

Not only have the Red Sox asked a King's ransom from the Royals for Duran and complicated that deal, but now they could suddenly go two-for-two in playing spoiler.

Losing out on Duran would be one thing, but the versatility of Donovan would be something that would be hard to replicate by bringing in another name.

Not only could Donovan continue the Royals pursuit of corner outfield solutions, his ability to play second base could be just as valuable, given how largely ineffective Jonathan India and Michael Massey were at the position in 2025.

On top of his positional versatility, Donovan can be effective on both sides of the ball, consistently posting AVGs above .275 and OPS marks above .770 in each if his first four seasons in the majors as well as demonstrating Gold Glove-worthy defense as a utility man.

A name that occupy multiple positions of need, can be a hitter worthy of occupying KC's much needed leadoff spot and won't subtract from the defensive quality. This seems like a match made in heaven.

No deal is done yet between St. Louis and Boston and perhaps the Royals can still find a way to beat out the competition for Donovan's services. However, the Red Sox have managed to complete two high profile trades with the Cardinals already this winter for Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras, so the Royals already may have the cards stacked against them.