2 Brewers' division rivals reportedly fielding offers for their Gold Glove infielders

The National League Central quietly has one of the best trios of second basemen in all of baseball. With Platinum Glove Award winner and 2025 breakout star Brice Turang manning the keystone position for the Milwaukee Brewers, 2025 All-Star Brendan Donovan serving as the St. Louis Cardinals' primary second baseman, and 2x Gold Glove Award winner Nico Hoerner playing second base for the Chicago Cubs for the last seven seasons, three of MLB's best at the position find themselves in the same division. That, however, could soon change.

Don't worry Brewers fans, Turang isn't going anywhere; Milwaukee would sooner sign Turang to a contract extension than trade him away while his value is continuing to rise. As for his NL Central counterparts, the same cannot be said.

With the Cardinals entering a rare rebuild, Donovan, who has two years of team control remaining and is coming off his lone All-Star season, has been a popular name on the trade market throughout the winter. St. Louis has already moved their ace, Sonny Gray, and middle-of-the-order anchor, William Contreras, this offseason, but all signs point to their fire sale staying open for business through the end of the 2025-26 offseason.

Though several teams are reportedly interested in Donovan and his modest, arbitration-controlled salary, the team that seems to be making the most progress in trade talks is the Seattle Mariners, who aren't letting a devastating loss in the 2025 ALCS slow their momentum this winter. After already re-signing Josh Naylor and bringing in veteran lefty-masher Rob Refsnyder this offseason, the Mariners are still searching for more offense, and according to a recent report from Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times, they are willing to part with serious prospect capital to get a deal done. Divish reported that the Mariners, and their ever-active President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto, are willing to give up top pitching prospect Jurrangelo Cijntje in a deal to acquire Donovan this offseason.

For the Cardinals, who have already turned Gray and Contreras into several intriguing, MLB-ready arms from the Boston Red Sox, including Richard Fitts and Hunter Dobbins, adding Cijntje to the mix too would continue Chaim Bloom's strategy of reshaping the future of St. Louis' starting rotation by sending away the team's valuable, win-now assets this winter. Though it may not end up happening with the Mariners specifically, it would be shocking not to see Donovan moved this winter.

As for the Cubs' second baseman, a trade feels less likely, but not entirely out of the question.

Nico Hoerner joins Brendan Donovan as NL Central second-basemen who could be traded this winter

According to an article from MLB insider Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the Chicago Cubs have been fielding calls for their long-time second baseman, Hoerner. The report isn't entirely shocking; Hoerner is entering the final year of the three-year, $35 million contract extension he signed prior to the 2024 season, so it makes sense that Jed Hoyer and company would at least test the waters for what they could get in return by moving Hoerner this offseason, rather than letting him walk "for free" next winter.

Additionally, Chicago's recent free agent interest seems to suggest that they are ready to switch things up in their infield group. The Cubs have been linked to free agent third basemen Alex Bregman and Kazuma Okamoto in recent weeks. That may seem like it doesn't impact Hoerner's job at second base, but Chicago's incumbent third baseman, Matt Shaw, who had an inconsistent rookie season in 2025, is naturally a second baseman. The logic, therefore, is that Chicago would move Shaw back to second, add an impact third baseman, and trade Hoerner to improve their roster elsewhere.

In that regard, maybe trading Hoerner does make some sense for the North Siders, but that's also putting a lot of faith into Shaw's sophomore season, which will follow a year in which he posted an on-base percentage south of .300. The "win-now" move, if that's Chicago's priority, would be to keep Hoerner, still sign a big-name free agent third baseman, and use Shaw as a utility infielder in 2026, before he takes over as the everyday second baseman in 2027. However, such a move not only sacrifices the long-term pieces that Chicago could get from dealing Hoerner, but it also likely pushes the Cubs' payroll to a place that the Ricketts, the club's owners, aren't comfortable with.

Therefore, it's likely that a decision on Hoerner won't be reached until both Bregman and Okamoto choose their destinations for the 2026 season. With the latter's posting window set to close before the end of the weekend, movement in the infield market is expected to pick up soon, and following it could be trades of two talented NL Central second basemen.