Building a SF Giants trade package for Brendan Donovan based on Mariners offer that stole him

The SF Giants will not end up with versatile infielder Brendan Donovan, as he was shipped to the Seattle Mariners in a three-team deal. What kind of trade package could the Giants have put together to sway the St. Louis Cardinals to make a move?

Building a SF Giants trade package for Brendan Donovan based on Mariners offer that stole him

The Giants were aggressive in their pursuit for upgrading the second base position. They scoured the trade market, and were linked to Donovan, Nico Hoerner of the Chicago Cubs, and CJ Abrams of the Washington Nationals.

In the end, they added three-time batting champ Luis Arráez on a one-year deal. The signing gives the Giants another reliable bat in the lineup. Arráez is expected to shift back to second base as well. He has played that position sporadically over the past two seasons.

If the Giants were able to swing a deal with the St. Louis Cardinals for Donovan, what would it have looked like?

Now, it bears mentioning that recreating this trade is relatively difficult. It is a three-team trade, involving a pair of compensatory picks. For the purposes of this exercise, I am sticking with the three players traded by Seattle as a template for a trade package.

The Mariners shipped Ben Williamson, Jurrangelo Cijntje, and Taj Peete away in the deal. Williamson went to the Tampa Bay Rays, whereas Cijntje and Peete went to the Cardinals.

MLB Pipeline views Cijntje as the No. 91 prospect in baseball, and Seattle's No. 7 prospect prior to the trade. Peete was the No. 11 prospect in Seattle's system, and Williamson exhausted prospect eligibility in 2025. Before last season, he came in as Seattle's No. 16 prospect.

Cijntje was a first round pick in 2024, and is a unique pitcher due to his ability to throw from both sides. The Cardinals seemingly wanted a pitcher in the deal.

Finding a comparison for the Giants is difficult because while the farm system is showing signs of improvement, they are light on the pitching side. Some of the Giants' top pitching prospects are younger and more projectable, which makes finding a comparison hard.

Jacob Bresnahan is arguably the top pitching prospect in the Giants' system at the moment. He would likely be the headliner in the deal. They could pivot to Argenis Cayama or Keyner Martinez as well, but we will stick with Bresnahan.

One of Bo Davidson or Dakota Jordan would likely be included as well. A third player might include a pop-up prospect from last summer, such as Parks Harber or Carlos Guiterrez.

That type of package would likely get the conversation going. The Giants could swap out Bresnahan for one of Hayden Birdsong or Landen Roupp. However, that would stretch an already thin rotation even thinner.

The Giants are probably okay with not putting together this type of package. They added
Luis Arráez to be a stopgap at second base for 2026. However, they did try hard to swing a deal elsewhere.