Brendan Donovan Emerges as Potential Trade Fit for Giants

The Winter Meetings are undoubtedly the most exciting time of the Major League Baseball offseason. The biggest free agents choose their next homes, and executives swing trades that nobody saw coming.

This particular winter, the San Francisco Giants seem inclined to stay away from the monster free agents, something we haven’t necessarily seen from them in recent years.

One idea that has been consistently shared by everybody throughout the baseball community — including Buster Olney on The Just Baseball Show — is the fact that we can expect an elevated amount of trades this particular offseason.

For San Francisco, whether it’s because of the impending lockout or simply not loving this free agent class, this appears to be the way they prefer to improve their roster.

Of course, pitching targets like Freddy Peralta, Joe Ryan, and MacKenzie Gore are at the top of their list. Meanwhile, for the first time in a while, the majority of the field is set when it comes to their offense.

Only two spots stick out as areas for potential improvement: second base and right field. While an intra-division trade for superstar Ketel Marte remains unlikely, another second baseman has reportedly been on San Francisco’s radar.

Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the Giants have been consistent — and possibly persistent — in expressing their interest in Cardinals second baseman Brendan Donovan.

Add the San Francisco Giants to the list of Mariners, Royals, and others, per sources, who have been consistent (persistent?) in expressing interest in Brendan Donovan.

More on his market and how and why #Cardinals are setting a deliberate pace … https://t.co/k68LqBG6ms

— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) December 10, 2025

Brendan to the Bay?

Donovan has quietly turned into one of the most consistent hitters in all of baseball. While he’s not a superstar, he’s a net positive no matter where he’s playing in the field. Since the start of the 2024 season, he has put up a surplus of above-average numbers across the board.

AVG	OBP	SLG	wRC+	fWAR
.282 (3rd)	.347 (2nd)	.419 (5th)	117 (4th)	6.0 (6th)

Clearly, if this trade were to come to fruition, San Francisco would be getting one of the best offensive second basemen in baseball. It would be a welcome addition to a lineup that is widely viewed as being fairly top-heavy.

Donovan’s profile is one that is quite different — in the best way — from what the Giants currently have. Headlined by names like Rafael Devers, Willy Adames, and Matt Chapman, San Francisco’s lineup isn’t one that is going to beat you by putting the ball in play and avoiding a strikeout.

In 2025, the Giants were 25th in baseball with a .235 batting average while striking out 22.7% of the time. Donovan, on the other hand, plays a different game.

While he only has 40 career home runs, since the start of Donovan’s rookie season (2022), he has the 15th-best strikeout rate in all of baseball at 13.5%. His .282 batting average is also one of the best, coming in at 17th in baseball during that span.

Simply put, his bat would be a perfect complement to some of the names at the top of San Francisco’s order. That offensive profile also seems awfully similar to what Buster Posey has liked in terms of acquired prospects throughout his first season as POBO (i.e., Gavin Kilen, Trevor Cohen, Jesus Rodriguez).

The Potential Deal

San Francisco has seen a pretty significant jump in talent throughout its system within the last year. Of course, Bryce Eldridge stands alone at the top as potentially the best prospect this organization has seen since Buster Posey himself.

However, names like Josuar Gonzalez (SF #2), Jhonny Level (SF #3), Bo Davidson (SF #5), Dakota Jordan (SF #7), and Parks Harber have seemingly come out of nowhere in terms of prospect pedigree.

This gives the front office a better chance to bolster the roster via trade. Recently landing the fourth overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft and projected to sign the top international prospect in January (Luis Hernandez), the Giants definitely have some flexibility with who they can look to deal.

However, it’s important to point out that San Francisco has a fairly strong safety net at second if talks for Donovan fall through.

Casey Schmitt is the projected starter there and is a strong breakout candidate. He put up 0.7 fWAR in 95 games in 2025 while dealing with a hand injury throughout the back half of the season.

Still, we saw flashes of what Schmitt could be. From May 30 to the beginning of July, he was one of the best hitting second basemen in baseball. He slashed .308/.384/.508 with four home runs and a 153 wRC+.

Christian Koss is another name in the second base mix for San Francisco. While he’ll likely serve as more of a bench and utility infield piece, he put together a pretty impressive rookie season as a role player.

This gives San Francisco a bit of leverage in discussions due to the fact that they have a few fine options to fall back on. This will keep Buster Posey and Zack Minasian from overpaying for Donovan, who’s also garnered interest from the Mariners and Royals.

A potential pairing between the Giants and Brendan Donovan will surely be one of the storylines to follow as we head into the post-Winter Meetings period of the offseason.