Rather quickly, there has been a growing assumption that Brendan Donovan will be traded. The stove is hot for Donovan, and it seems like it’s a fairly safe assumption to think he won’t be a Cardinal in 2026. A consequence of this is that the Cardinals’ outfield situation is rather bad next year to put it bluntly. Now Donovan only played 18 games in LF last year, but with JJ Wetherholt being essentially MLB ready (I think his ZiPS will bear this out), I’m pretty sure if he stayed in the organization, he’d primarily play LF. In fact, I’d go as far as to say without Donovan, the Cardinals are currently trending towards having zero reliable outfielders on Opening Day.
Free Agent Profile: Michael Conforto
