Brewers' division rival continues rebuild by sending All-Star infielder to Mariners

The Milwaukee Brewers have won the NL Central in four of the last five years, but fans might be surprised by who prevented them from making it a clean five-for-five sweep. In 2022, a year Brewers fans have since tried to forget, the St. Louis Cardinals won 93 games and took the NL Central. However, over the next three years, the Cardinals' roster aged poorly, the team never finished better than 3rd place in the division, and now St. Louis has entered into a rebuild -- a rarity for the consistently competitive Redbirds.

Under the guidance of President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom, known for his rebuild of the Boston Red Sox following their 2018 World Series title, which looked rough at the time but is now coming to fruition, the Cardinals have executed four major trades this offseason.

It began with Bloom sending All-Star ace Sonny Gray to his former team, the Red Sox, back in late-November. In return, the Cardinals acquired right-hander Richard Fitts, a 26-year-old starter who has just 65 big-league innings to his name, and southpaw Brandon Clarke, who was Boston's No. 5-ranked prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, at the time of the trade. The latter won't make his MLB debut for a few years, but he's a left-hander who can touch triple-digits with his fastball, and has a lethal slider to go along with it.

Then, roughly one month later, Bloom linked up with his former club once again, this time sending Wilson Contreras to Boston in exchange for even more young pitching. The Red Sox sent 26-year-old right-hander Hunter Dobbins, who pitched to a 4.13 ERA in his rookie season last year, their No. 23-ranked prospect right-hander Yhoiker Fajardo, and a lottery ticket in starter Blake Aita to St. Louis in the trade.

But Bloom wasn't done just yet. In mid-January, the Cardinals offloaded much of Nolan Arenado's remaining salary in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks that netted them 2025 8th-round pick Jack Martinez. Like every other player Bloom had acquired to that point in the offseason, Martinez is a pitcher, capable of starting games. Though not an overwhelming return for St. Louis, the Arenado deal freed up some money in future seasons for Bloom to make additions to his rebuilding roster.

Now, shortly after the calendar flipped to February, Bloom has made his fourth trade of the last four months, and St. Louis once again added to their pitching prospect group in the return that they received from the Seattle Mariners.

Cardinals receive significant haul from Mariners in exchange for All-Star infielder Brendan Donovan

In what actually ended up being a three-team trade, including the Tampa Bay Rays, as well as the Cardinals and Mariners, St. Louis gave up Donovan and received a Top-100 pitching prospect, two Competitive Balance Round B draft picks, a versatile prospect who was a 1st-round pick two years ago, and an outfield prospect who was a 2nd round pick in the same 2023 draft.

The headlining pitching prospect comes from the Mariners' organization, one that's been known for identifying and developing strong starting pitchers in recent history. Jurrangelo Cijntje is MLB Pipeline's No. 91-ranked prospect in baseball, and despite being known for his ability to pitch both right and left-handed, he's been mostly developing as a right-hander over the last year and he's become a very strong starter. He posted a 2.67 ERA in seven Double-A starts last year, and possesses upper-90s velocity on his fastball.

Meanwhile, Tai Peete, the other prospect Seattle sent to St. Louis, was the 30th overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. With the ability to play shortstop and centerfield, Peete is a versatile athlete who immediately became St. Louis' No. 15-ranked prospect. At just 19 years old, Peete cracked 19 homers in High-A last year, and has swiped a total of 70 bases in his last two seasons.

The two draft picks, one of which came from the Mariners and the other from the Rays, not only give Bloom more selections in the 2026 MLB Draft, but it also gives St. Louis more bonus pool money to work with throughout the draft. For a rebuilding team, that's an advantage that should not be overlooked.

Finally, 24-year-old outfielder Colton Ledbetter, who arrives in the Cardinals' farm system via the Rays, is another solid addition for St. Louis. Though he doesn't immediately appear on the Cardinals' Top-30 prospects list, the 2023 second-round pick out of Mississippi State has had a solid start to his professional career, after being named the 49th-best draft prospect in the 2023 MLB Draft.

Overall, it's an impressive haul for St. Louis, but the trade certainly hurts their roster in the short term. Not only was Donovan a versatile All-Star, but he was somewhat of the glue that held together the Cardinals as their roster started to fall apart in recent seasons. Without his steady bat at the top of their lineup, and his glove covering whatever position needs covering in the field, the Cardinals will have a tough time being competitive in an NL Central division that has improved as a whole during the 2025-26 offseason. After years of consistent competitiveness, the rebuild in St. Louis is a welcomed development for the rest of the division.