Over the weekend, the infield market started churning, with free agents Luis Arraez (San Francisco) and Eugenio Suarez (Cincinnati) signing fresh deals with new teams. And that movement continued on Monday with long-rumored Cardinals trade chip Brendan Donovan getting dealt to Seattle in a three-team deal (pending physical).
This transaction has some already-realized, near-term impact on the Cubs, seeing as the Cardinals’ sell-off is now even more substantial (they REALLY went for it, dealing Nolan Arenado, Willson Contreras, Sonny Gray, and now Donovan). But there’s potential for an even bigger impact on the Cubs with some very simple dot-connecting. One step at a time, though. Let’s start with the actual deal.
Brendan Donovan Traded
According to Jeff Passan, the Mariners are acquiring Brendan Donovan from the Cardinals in a three-team trade that also includes Tampa Bay.
The Cardinals, of course, have been completely tearing down their roster all winter. And while Donovan may be the last big piece to go, he was the one everyone most expected to move. According to The Athletic’s Katie Woo, who reported on this story today, “Roughly half the league showed varying levels of interest in Donovan throughout the early part of the winter…”
The Mariners, meanwhile, have endeavored to add impact to their infield group for two offseasons now. And they’re led by a trade-happy president of Baseball Operations, Jerry Dipoto, who’s always ready to make a deal.
We’ll see how the Rays have inserted themselves into this deal, as neither that part nor the return for Brendan Donovan is yet clear.
© Joe Puetz-Imagn ImagesTiming and Market Impact (Including Cubs)
In the meantime, the timing of this deal isn’t particularly surprising.
Aside from the Mariners, the other two most interested parties for Brendan Donovan were the Giants, who just signed Luis Arraez, and the Red Sox … who have been baffling the industry (and angering their fans) by not yet getting one of the available infielders. In fact, pretty much everyone thought they had Eugenio Suarez in their pocket this weekend before he signed with the Reds. Donovan, then, was the next logical target. Now? He’s gone too.
And all of that brings us to the Cubs, who’ve been connected to the Red Sox in trade rumors (Nico Hoerner, Matt Shaw) ever since they stole Alex Bregman out of Boston. This deal, along with the two free agent signings over the weekend, really puts the pressure on Boston with basically no clear options remaining.
No CLEAR options. But there are some theoretical targets, including the Cubs’ guys. So let’s start there.
The Cubs (Hoerner, Shaw) do not seem inclined to trade Nico Hoerner, nor should they. And they seem more than content to open the season with Matt Shaw as the super utility player who can cover third, second, left, and right field, while also providing cover at shortstop by way of pushing Nico Hoerner over in a pinch/for rest. With Hoerner, Ian Happ, and Seiya Suzuki hitting free agency at the end of the year, hanging onto Shaw is a perfectly reasonable path for Chicago.
The Diamondbacks (Ketel Marte) have long since removed Marte from the trade market, or so they say. We’ll see if the Red Sox get desperate and re-engage.
And that leaves pretty much only Isaac Paredes among the probably more available than most impact infielders. His pull-happy approach might work well at Fenway, but there doesn’t seem to be much momentum there for a deal.
So … what’s up, Boston? If you want to make a deal for Shaw, you better start getting crazy with your offers. There’s nowhere left to turn but ol’ uncle Jed.
Personally, I still think hanging onto Shaw makes the most sense, but if the Cubs WERE going to trade him, then dealing for one of the Red Sox big league-ready top-100 pitching prospects like Payton Tolle (#17 according to Baseball America) or Connelly Early (#52) is the way to do it. Until now, that sort of desperation didn’t seem likely. But after this deal? I’m not so sure it’s out of the question. Not anymore. Stay tuned, because I don’t think the Cubs’ offseason is done yet.
I’ll update this post when we know more.
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