Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - SHOCKWAVE: St. Louis Cardinals TRADE Brendan Donovan to Seattle Mariners—Who WON the trade?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Brendan Donovan has been traded to the Seattle Mariners, what this massive deal means for the team in 2026 and beyond on today's episode of Lockedon Cardinals. You are Locked on Cardinals, your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey there, Cardinals fans. I'm J.D. Haffron and I'm a former national radio sports anchor born and raised in St. Louis and a lifetime Cardinals fan. and welcome to another episode of Lockdown Cardinals, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, now the number one sports podcast network. Big thank you to the everydayers for always being here. Newcomers, whether you're Cardinals, Seattle, Tampa Bay,

Starting point is 00:00:44 welcome aboard. Hope you enjoyed the content tonight. This is a show serving Cardinal Nation and giving you all the info about the birds on the bat. The deal that we've been waiting for for quite some time. Finally went down, Brennan Donovan has been dealt to the Seattle Mariners as part of a three-team deal that includes the Tampa Bay raise and joining us to discuss all the air,

Starting point is 00:01:02 and outs of this particular deal is our good buddy Thomas Govain from redbird rants.com. Thomas, how you feeling after a busy day in the world of baseball specifically for Cardinal fans and I guess Seattle and Tampa Bay as well. But I feel like this is a more of an emotional and impactful day for Cardinal fans. Yeah, bittersweet's definitely probably the word. I mean, it's tough to see Fred and Donovan go away, but it's exciting to look ahead at the future of the team. And I know one of the big concerns coming into this portion of the offseason because we knew what was going to happen with those other guys. We knew that Gray, Nato, Willie, we knew the kind of deals that were going to happen, right? We had, you know, they're going to get some prospects, hopefully some good ones, but there was going to be money exchange.

Starting point is 00:01:51 A lot of that was just moving on from salaries where Brennan Donovan was like an asset where you're moving somebody, not because he's a burden. on the team, not because he's blocking anybody. Honestly, it's because other teams want him. Like, he was a guy that other people wanted to get in their lineup and get their hands on him. We heard plenty of teams brought up and kicked around a round a deal for Brennan Donovan. But the last team standing was the team that I think both of us agreed was the team we thought made the most sense.

Starting point is 00:02:27 That was the Seattle Mariners due to the fact that they're in. win now mode they were very very close to making it to the world series last year so if you have the ability to get that one extra piece to push you over that line you go and do that uh they also have a phenomenal phenomenal farm system which had a lot of depth to it obviously something the cardinals were attracted to it's one of the reasons why they were doing deals with boston not just because hein bloom was familiar with them but because they had a good farm system so they were able to get some uh some guys from there and it's why they wanted to do a deal with seattle it made the most sense.

Starting point is 00:03:02 And now here we are. The deal is done. And we've got the full trade for you guys, which has changed a couple of times, Thomas, because, you know, things were, it was weird because when the trade was made and it was announced,

Starting point is 00:03:16 things were trickling out at a very slow pace. It wasn't one of those immediate things where all the details were ready. I guess we had to wait on physicals. And then with a three-team trade, I guess that makes things a little more complicated. But I'm going to run this down real quick. And then we'll start with the crunch. jewel of this particular trade, which was the 22-year-old pitcher.

Starting point is 00:03:35 Eurangelo Sanya, and I shouldn't say just pitcher, should I, switch pitcher, something that most people probably have never heard of, but Eurangelo Sanya, 22-year-old switch pitcher was the Mariners number seven prospect at the end of 25. He's in the top 100 here in 2026 at number 91. They also acquired Mariners number 11 prospect, 20-year-old left-handed hitting outfielder Tai Pete, who is very young. but has a lot of upside to him, very athletic. They're also getting two competitive balance picks.

Starting point is 00:04:07 One of those is coming from Seattle. And then another one is going to be coming from the Rays. Plus, they're getting an outfielder from the Rays Farm System. Number 24 prospect, according to Mblebee Pipeline, Colton Ledbetter, which is a great name if you're a Pearl Jam fan because of the summer yellow leather. I think he has to walk out to that song if he ever makes it to the pros. But anyway, he played at Mississippi State with Sam.

Starting point is 00:04:30 which was kind of a cool thing. Athletic guy, 37 stolen bases at AA last year. So that's what we're looking at here. So you end up getting five assets in return for Brendan Donovan in this particular trade. So let's start at the very top here with the pitcher, the switch pitcher, your Angelo, Sanya, I named it we've heard mentioned multiple times this off season that it was a guy that the Cardals were kind of targeting, very unique skill set to be able to throw with both sides. what are your thoughts on

Starting point is 00:05:01 Sanya being the top guy that the Cardinals were going to are able to finally acquire instead of it being like one of the power hitters that they were after too I like the move quite a bit especially with Sanya being the top the switch pitcher every report

Starting point is 00:05:19 is saying that he's going to go right-handed in spring training his bullpenzo still throw south paw but he's going to be focusing on right-handed which is definitely the right move I think his prospect ranking is hurt slightly from his numbers as a lefty. Right-handed batterers last year hit 273 against him when he was thrown left-handed. Left-handed batters hit 296 against him. So his numbers are definitely far better as a right-handed pitcher.

Starting point is 00:05:43 You see more strikeouts on that side as well. He's got a plus fastball that sits in the mid-to- upper 90s. His slider has high swing and miss rates. I think once he fully commits to being right-handed pitcher, he's one of the top 10 pitchers, probably. Definitely right-handed pitcher, but as far as prospects go, he's up there. Now, it's unique. Like, my dad used to do this. He used to be able to throw both ways.

Starting point is 00:06:08 He was ambidextrous is the fancy word for it. But he always stuck with the left side. And you mentioned that the right side way him pitching with his right arm is the best one. They said that he was going to stick with, he's going to do lefty in the bullpins or whatever. Do you think he should just quit it altogether and just focus on one? Just, all right, that was cool. That was fun. Cool trick in college, bro.

Starting point is 00:06:31 Let you're a pro now. Let's get one thing and perfect that and just stop tinkering with the left side. Do you think that's the move that the Cardinals will make in this one? If you were in charge, if you were high in balloon, would you be like, all right, we're just going to put that other arm away. You're fine. Let's just stick with the right hand. Yeah, I think I would.

Starting point is 00:06:50 The reports of the bullpen left-handed, that was when he was still Seattle 24 hours ago. And so obviously things could now change with the Cardinals. I trust our new farm system and our player development pipeline. We've got Matt Pierpont, who was with the Mariners when they drafted Saino as well. So he's somewhat familiar with him, at least. I'd be surprised if the Cardinals do let him throw any spring training innings or minor league innings left-handed. That would surprise me quite a bit.

Starting point is 00:07:17 I would imagine there's going to have my focus on right-handed pitching. Maybe let him throw some left-handed pitches just for fun batting practice or something, but in-game, it'd be right-handed. what do you think i just because i thought about this you know how there's always arm injuries for pitchers yeah i thought about that too hurts his arm and he's good but i'm cool and just throws with the other one instead he could stay active he would just have to wear like some cool brace on his uh no that would never happen but i did think about that that'd be wild i mean he's got he's got two chances now for Tommy john surgery and everybody's getting two Tommy johns so

Starting point is 00:07:51 now he's got four chances i mean the math is there yeah yeah like the the the you know the the it's limitless what this fan could do. Yeah, it's certainly going to be something that will monitor. I mean, how many times has it ever worked in the pros that there was a guy that could go both sides? I mean, very rarely. There was a relief pitcher, and I feel like his name was Harris. And I don't know why, but I feel like that was his name that was able to do it. But he wasn't all that great at it.

Starting point is 00:08:18 So if you can become great at one way, and like you said, you think he might be a top 10 guy as far as right-hand of pitchers go, if he sticks to just doing that, like follow that path, my friend. Do that. And then, you know, if something bad happens, there we go to left side and tinker with it. But I don't know, he was going to be invited to. I believe he was coming to Major League Camp or Seattle. They were going to take a look from there. So we'll see what the Cardinals decide to do.

Starting point is 00:08:44 I mean, we've only got, what, 10, nine days, depending on when you see this, that spring training is going to be here. So curious how quickly they move with what's going on with them. Um, let's talk about the other prospect real quick, uh, Tai Pete, Tai Pete, um, 20 years old. So, so very, very young. Obviously, he was, uh, a bad out of high school that they drafted that year. And, uh, left handed hitter, which I already saw some flack in the comment section, like, another lefty. Guess what? Both the outdoors they got are left handed hitters. Just get ready for that. Uh, we need Ritees. Well, this kid's not ready to be at the pros yet. He's not coming up to

Starting point is 00:09:22 the team now, so simmer down a little bit. But with all of our left-hand pitchers, too, with all of our left-hand pitchers, too, I'm convinced we're just going to feel the fully left-hand of line up by 2028. Well, 75% of the major league pitchers are right-handed. So it's better that way. But Typeat 19 home runs, 25 stolen bases last year, 217 batting average. What's going on there, man? What's his issue? Because you see upside, but you all see two, What's the problem? He struck out quite a bit last year, almost 31% in Haye, I believe. Yeah, hi, he saw all of his offensive numbers did pretty much last year, except for his home runs.

Starting point is 00:10:05 He hit 19 last year. He only had seven the year before, about the same amount of at-bats as well. So he must have swapped something for power. I think this was a bit of a buy-low choice with Tai-peat. He had 45 swipes in 2024. his defense is something that's not going to fade either. He projects to be a center fielder at his speed in his range. It's exciting.

Starting point is 00:10:30 I think it's not a guy that you're going to be like he's got a hit lead off. He's going to hit 280 and 20 home runs from the top spot. I don't think he's going to get to that point. But he's definitely plus defense. He has the potential to steal a lot of bags. And then he's got some home run potential now too after this past year. Yeah. And, you know, the guy that everybody was obsessed with,

Starting point is 00:10:51 Montes, who was the power hitter from Seattle that everybody wanted to get their hands on. A lot of swing and mess there, too. That was the real mock against him, which said, yeah, he's got this crazy power potential, but swings and messes all the time. So you're going to get it either way. One of them is a ginormous man, but it's not like Pete's like some tiny guy. Like he's what, 6-2, something like that? Yeah, 6-2, 195.

Starting point is 00:11:15 Yeah, so you know what he kind of seems like it might be doing here? And this is just me and my own thoughts is not anything the Cardinals have said, though. But with Chase Davis not really progressing the way I thought he would or they thought he would coming out of college, he feels like just a younger version of what Chase Davis could have been had he had he been a high school guy. So that's just my thoughts is that because I just, I haven't seen what I've wanted to out of Chase Davis so far. And this kind of gives you another shot at that. And this was also type he was in the Little League World Series. in 2018. I saw a picture of him doing that. And then also some people might not be familiar

Starting point is 00:11:55 that 2024, he actually was playing shortstop still in some third base before they made the move to outfield had quite a few errors at shortstop so you can see why they made the move. But that's the kind of athlete he is. You know how they always talk about, oh my gosh, you know, so many short stops. Why are we drafted? Because they're great athletes normally. Yeah, they can move them anywhere. Yeah. So that's the thing with Tai Pete here is that. that he seems to be an Uber athletic type of guy. Obviously, he's got some warts at his swing right now, but he's only 20 years old.

Starting point is 00:12:28 So there's like a lot of room for growth and a lot of time. So this is not some guy that's going to be rushed to the big leagues or anything. This is just another, hey, this is a great athlete that's got some decent numbers for A ball and is going to give us another chance, another bite at the apple to be great at a position at some point. So number 30 overall pick the year that they drafted him. So it's not like this is some seventh rounder that just got lucky with. No, this was somebody that people were really excited about and put a lot of stock into. So two very exciting talents right there.

Starting point is 00:13:05 And that's just the Seattle side because we also got the draft picks we got to talk about. And then we've got the outfielder that came over from the Tampa Bay Rays, which was something that me and you were texting. And I was like, how are the Rays involved in it? I don't even see anything that they're doing. And then finally, things started to come out. So we're going to talk about the Tampa Bay Ray side of this. We're still going to talk about what we think this is going to do for the Cardinals in 2026.

Starting point is 00:13:28 Who the hell is going to play left field? What is to say about our lineup? And we'll get into all of this coming up right here on Locked on Cardinals. All right, guys. Let's talk about jobs, shall we? Because indeed takes care of the hiring because it's not just about finding someone willing to take a job. You know, it's about finding the right person who's got the right background who can actually help your business move forward. And if you want candidates who match what you're looking for, guess what?

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Starting point is 00:15:03 do it the right way with Indeed. Thanks again for making Locked on Cardinals, your first listen of the day. Thank you for making Locked on the number one sports podcast network. You already live your team every day. Now take it up a level. Go add free. You can join our everyday or club today. Get locked on Cardinals with no interruptions. Members only Discord access all for just five bucks a month. Very, very cheap. you can go 50 a year if you want to do it that way. Check it out. If you haven't already, go to locked on SCL cardinals. com or check the link in the show notes to learn more. Once again, we're joined by Thomas Coveyne from Redbird Rance.com.

Starting point is 00:15:43 We're talking about this massive Brendan Donovan trade, which went down late on Monday afternoon. And we already kind of went over what Seattle's prospects offer, like who's coming to St. Louis. We've also got the drive. rap picks that we'll talk about here in a moment. But let's go on to how the Tampa Bay raise were involved in this one, because they made it a three-team trade.

Starting point is 00:16:08 And as I mentioned, Thomas and I are texting, like, where is the part about Tampa Bay? Like, they're just getting a dude? Like, was that? What is this? And it took a while. But finally, we found out that not only were they going to put in a competitive balance pick, which I think is number 72 overall from Tampa. And it's number 68 from Seattle, I believe.

Starting point is 00:16:28 but they're also sending an outfielder to the Cardinals. Another outfielder, another one that hits left-handed, who's got a fantastic name, though, in Colton Ledbetter. And he was their number 24 overall prospect, according to MLB pipeline at the end of 2025. We don't know where the 26 rankings are just yet, but they'll be coming out at some point. But what is your knowledge, if you will?

Starting point is 00:16:52 Because, you know, some of these guys is a double A guy, but what is your knowledge on what Mr. better offers to the Cardinals and what we can expect from him in the minor leagues this year. Yeah, he's another guy who had a bit of a down year last year compared to what he did the previous year. He had a 112 WRC plus NMA, only seven home runs, 30s, up and stolen bases. His strikeout rate was a solid 24%. He had a 265 batting average. Nothing really exceptional at any point, 716 OPS. I think he's just a solid depth outfielder at this point. He has the potential there for some more power.

Starting point is 00:17:29 He hits 16 home runs in 2024. But I think from the Ray's system, especially our connections, Heim Bloom's familiarity with that farm system. Ledbetter was not there when Heim Bloom was there, but he still knows people there and he trusts them, I'm sure. I think it's just a nice depth addition for the outfield. Left-handed, so that might frustrate people. He's 23, so he's probably close to the majors as far as age goes,

Starting point is 00:17:52 but nothing overly exciting, just a solid return. Yeah, 37 stolen bases, I believe, at double A. So another athletic guy that, you know, nobody's projecting to be a starting center fielder or something at any point as of right now. But again, you need more bodies and you never know when some of these guys can turn into something special. So, and it was also pointed out that he was at Mississippi State along with Senia when he was there. So that's kind of cool that they got to play together in college. like he said, Tampa Bay Rays, Heim pulling from another place that he's comfortable with.

Starting point is 00:18:34 Again, he wasn't there when Heim was there. But I pointed out that I was like, you know, the four deals that the Cardinals have made this offseason, three of them involved Heim's former organizations. And some people are like, well, so what? I was like, I'm just observing, man. I'm just throwing it out there. Like, you know, he's obviously got some people

Starting point is 00:18:54 who are familiar with what's going on in these organizations. he trusts them. And, you know, these are guys that he chased after and he wanted. So you put those three players and then you get the two competitive balance picks, again, 68 and 72, which is in between the second and third round. So it's not like, you know, this is way down the list somewhere. You should be able to find some pretty good talent at that point of the draft. Overall, Thomas, what do you give this trade? And I get it that it's prospects. We don't know what they're going to be at some point. All of them could not pan out. It could happen that way. It's always a risk. But just based off of where these rankings are and who these people are,

Starting point is 00:19:36 what do you give this particular trade for Brennan Donovan? I'm also going to take out the emotional aspect to this grade. Brendan Donovan's awesome. He's a leader in the clubhouse. I'd give it a B-plus. I mean, these are three prospects. One of them is legit. Top 100 could be a very high-end starting pitcher for us. And then the two comp picks. You look last year, we drafted a. Tanner Franklin right about 70 second overall too. I might even have been seven. I can't remember the exact number. And Tanner Franklin's already receiving

Starting point is 00:20:02 rave reviews as a potential high end starting pitcher. So the comp picks of the icing on the cake to get Sanya as well as also a nice, nice addition to. Yeah. And don't look now, everybody. But who, which team was it? Was it the Mariners, I believe that had seven top 100 prospects? And hello, guess who's tied with you now?

Starting point is 00:20:24 The Cardinals. They got six. Well, you have them six? Yeah, I guess six. Yeah, okay. I was thinking we had six and we passed them. But no, it's even. Yeah, they're now even.

Starting point is 00:20:33 We stole one away. But yeah, so that's now six guys in the top 100. And temperate expectations, because you just don't know. But when you got that much talent inside those numbers, not only could those guys turn into something great, but they are also valuable when it comes to trade chips. Because when you look ahead, at the 2026. have in payroll and you're like, why is only like $38 million over there? Yeah, they don't have anybody.

Starting point is 00:21:01 There's nothing. Obviously, there's going to be arbitration of things are going to change and who knows if extensions are going to happen. But there's no money being spent yet. So it allows whenever the CBA gets figured out, it allows the Cardinals a ton of room to go and acquire some expensive talent when they're ready to compete at that level again, where it makes sense to add something like. that. But again, people are going to be bummed about it because it's not now. It's not now. It's going to be

Starting point is 00:21:31 maybe next year, probably the year after that. These guys are going to have to grow together and learn to win together. They're going to learn to lose together at the major league level as well. So that's kind of what we signed up for at this point. So be prepared. The 71 wins that people are talking about online. Yeah, that's probably pretty realistic at this point, considering how green everybody is on the roster right now. Now I do want to talk about what this roster is going to look like lineup wise. Like how do you want to go through the lineup? You know, who's going to be playing in left field? If new bars not available, what you think the smartest move should be, we're going to get all that information and more from Thomas Gauveen from redbird rants.com

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Starting point is 00:23:33 get you back to your life. Visit turbotax.com slash local to book your appointment today. Once again, thank you for making a locked on the number one sports podcast network. Thomas Govain from Redbird Rance.com. Kind of nice to join us here today to discuss this Brennan-Dottivan trade, which, you know, we all anticipated it. We all kind of planned for it when it happened, though. What was your first emotion, Thomas, were you hurt? Were you sad?

Starting point is 00:24:06 Were you like, oh, thank God, it's over? How did you feel? relief i think yeah thank god it's over kind of thing i mean we've been waiting for months for it we've heard all the rumors we've heard all the connections i was like okay thank goodness we're done with all those things and then i as i thought more about it i was like oh man no brenna donovan that's our final all star who's gone you know all that all that sorrow i guess too so relief sorrow and the now optimism i've gone through all the stages of grief i think at this point yeah it's um i don't know i after it happened and we're kind of waiting

Starting point is 00:24:38 for things to play out and what all the details were and the wife comes over. She's like, are you okay? I was like, what do you mean? She's like, you just look really down now. And I'm like, I mean, we're going to be bad. Like this is not a team that is probably going to win a whole lot of games. And earlier, I had done an episode about 71 wins. Is that realistic?

Starting point is 00:25:01 Should we be looking like, is that underrating what the Cardinals are? Are they going to finish in last place this year? Should we expect that? And, you know, at that point, Donovan was still a member of this team. But now he's gone. And that's a big chess piece for what Ali could do with his lineup, who's playing where, who needs a break and gets days offs. Now that's gone.

Starting point is 00:25:24 With Donovan out of the way and no longer a part of this infield, J.J. Weatherholt's got to be here opening day. Do you think? Absolutely. Yeah, I mean, there's no doubt about it. I think roster resource even has him as their strong. starting second baseman right now, too. So it's got to be JJ Weatherholt. This is the clearest path for him.

Starting point is 00:25:45 Heim Blum's even said the spring training stats don't necessarily matter with them. It's just checkpoints and progression. I think it's got to be JJ Weatherholt now. It's his time. Yeah. So we're looking at an infield of Nolan Gorman at third. Mason, when it's short, over at second, it's JJ, and then at first base you got Burley.

Starting point is 00:26:04 Catcher, Yvonne Herrero, Pedro Pahas, Jimmy Crooks will be a part of that mix as well. What do you want to do in left field now, though, Thomas? Because my master plan was if Donnie was coming back, which started to feel like, I don't know, maybe there's a chance. He's still on this team. I was going to put him in left field. I was going to bring JJ up if I was in charge, have him start second base and get Donnie in left field and let him roam there while

Starting point is 00:26:27 Lars was coming back from the heel surgeries. And maybe Newt was just going to be a bench guy after a while because, you know, Donovan obviously was capable of handling left. that is off the table no longer there. There's still a lot of skepticism of whether or not Newpar is even going to be ready for opening day. You got Victor and Center. You got Jordan and right.

Starting point is 00:26:47 What do you want to do in left field now? If you're in charge, you're Hein Bloom, you're telling Ali what needs to be done. What do you want to see happen in left field, at least at the beginning of the season? Yeah, I think you've got to look at Nathan Church as a potential option. He's already on the 40-man roster. He saw some time last year.

Starting point is 00:27:05 They brought that right-handed. hitting outfielder. He's on the non-roster invites. I cannot think of his name. It was just about a week ago. That's the guy. I think he's got a chance to looking at the 40-man roster really quickly. Let me see. You got Bayez who's on the 40? Bias, yeah. I don't know if he's ready yet. I think they want him to get more time. Yeah, he hasn't even played a AAA yet. I feel like there'll be a massive mistake to push out. Brian, Brian Torres is another guy. I knew there's some of you can think of. He's only five-self. and his way is 165. What I believe.

Starting point is 00:27:41 Left-handed. Yeah, plus defense, he had some power last year as well. I think so Brian Torres, Nathan Church, are probably the two leading candidates if Newpar's not healthy. Do you think? You're in charge. This is your team, your money, Thomas. Like, we're going to, we're letting you do it.

Starting point is 00:27:59 Are you going into free agency and pulling out one of these outfielders that are still there? You've got Andrew Har. I've started to beat the drum for Randall Gritchick. I feel like it makes sense. you know, for what he can do against left-handers for you. They can't be the, and Uhar maybe two-year deal is what he's going to be looking for, so he might be too much, which I totally understand if they didn't bring him in. The Gritchick's got to be a one-year type of guy.

Starting point is 00:28:24 You don't have to spend a whole lot of money on him. Do you think they go down that path, or do you think they settle this internally and move forward? Man, if they do internally, and I see Brian Torres or Nathan Church on the opening day left field, spot. That's 71 wins might look good at that point. Yeah. Randall Gryptich sounds good. I think I'd be okay with that. I know some people are like, oh, another old cardinal. Hym Bloom's doing nothing but dealing with his friends and bringing in an old guy. But I think, I mean, Gretich hasn't been here for a while. He's a player at this point. I think that'd be a good addition. Yeah, I just feel like it makes

Starting point is 00:29:00 sense. I know that I've thrown out the name Starling Marte as well. I just don't know. Age 37, that's what he wants to do with his life, has come to a team. It's rebuilding like this. I feel like he'd rather be a platoon guy for one of those big city teams. Maybe he goes back to the Mets. Who knows? I have no, I have no idea where he's going to land. I just, I find it hard to believe that's where he'd want to play. I feel like he would take last to go somewhere else and be a part of a winning team instead. So I don't know, that's just who I keep landing on every time. I end up landing on Randall Gritchick going, it makes sense. He bashes lefties. Last year was a little bit of an off year, but previous years

Starting point is 00:29:38 before that he kills him and we know he can play outfield he might even be able to spell you a little bit in centerfield if you need him to i don't know if his uh his wheels and stuff or in his range or quite what it used to be uh at this age but i don't know it feels like something that they might do let me ask you this too before we let you go lead off hitter this year a lot of people thought bernan donovan was going to be the lead off hitter if he came back it just made a lot sense. I know in our vision of a leadoff hitter, you would love to have Victor Scott sitting there at the top of the order getting on base in a 345 clip and stealing bags left and right. We haven't seen them be able to do that yet at the major league level. Where would you want to go lineup-wise

Starting point is 00:30:20 at the top of the order with what you got available right now? I think I'd go for Mason win at the top. I know he doesn't quite have the on base. He might want from the top of your lineup, but I think it's time to just throw him in there, see what it can do at shortstop, see what can do it leadoff, and truly make him the face of this team in 2026 and hopefully beyond with an extension. I think it'd be fun to see him run around and get on base as much as he can at the top of the lineup. Is there anybody other than Mason that you're looking at to extend at the moment? Would you do it with Ivan Herrera? Is it too early for him?

Starting point is 00:30:55 Is there anybody else? Because you got all this money available on the payroll, like, you know, where eventually they're going to spend money again. going to stay down here and where they are. Eventually they will. Is that the next guy, do you think on the list? Or is there anybody else? Would Burley be somebody you'd be interested in? Or do you think, you know, hey, let me see him do it one more year before I go down there.

Starting point is 00:31:15 Yeah, I think you know where I stand on Burley still. I'm not quite sold on him still. Avon Herrera, I'd like to see him catch before I give him an extension, see if he can be viable back there. Honestly, JJ Weatherholt would probably be Mason win and then Weatherholt would probably be my two. I think I might look into something for Matthew Libby. if it's relatively team friendly as these extensions usually are just to give us that starting

Starting point is 00:31:38 picture we have for the next five years while our bail starts to come up he can be he's not adam waydright i'm not telling you he's adam rain right like he can be that voice in the clubhouse for the rotation at least for the next few years all right well i think overall both of us are pleased with the deal again it sucks losing a guy like brendan donovan because you know how great he was and he seems like a dude that was like the perfect cardinal for life type type of guy, but situation is what it is. And clearly people wanted him. And you see the hall you got back.

Starting point is 00:32:10 I don't think any of us thought that they were going to get five players in return, which is what this turns out to be with three actual prospects and two draft picks. I don't think anybody saw five assets coming back to the Cardinals for Brennan Donovan, considering how everybody talked about him is like, well, yeah, it means a lot to the Cardinals, but not to everybody else. Well, clearly, you all were wrong because that is a. A lot coming back for a guy that most people were like, he's a pretty good utility guy, but pretty impressive, I think.

Starting point is 00:32:40 Yeah, I agree, absolutely. And then the fact that we didn't have to give anybody else up to, I mean, we just stole guys from Tampa Bay, and we gave them nothing. It's just Brendan Donovan to the Mariners. Yeah, yeah, and Jojo stays with the Cardinals. So we'll see if anybody's willing to do anything to get him, but, you know, getting somebody like Donovan who can play every day,

Starting point is 00:33:02 compared to a reliever who will be a free agent at the end of the year. Obviously, that's a completely different story. But we wish Brendan Donovan the best. And thank you for your service, sir. You were an awesome cardinal. And I'm excited about what the Cardinals were able to get in return. And obviously, we'll keep you posted on everything that happens with these prospects and how they progress moving on as now members of the Cardinals organization.

Starting point is 00:33:26 Thomas, thank you so much for joining us. Anything you're working on for Redbird Ranch, come here in the very near future. I've got a prospect breakdown of the trade that should be coming out tonight or tomorrow. And then I don't know if you saw Michael McGreevy's interview on Cardinal Territory, but he had some not safe work. Yeah. So that's coming out soon too, hopefully. Yeah, it was entertaining.

Starting point is 00:33:50 I'm loving what McGreevy's been doing so far. Yeah, go for it. Yeah, that he's become kind of the veteran voice already. And I think it's great. I think it's awesome. And they need some guys, they need some of these guys to step up and act a little more older than they all are because they're all in their mid-20s down. Like, there's just nobody who's got age on them anymore as far as position players go. And in that starting rotation, like Dustin May is the oldest guy.

Starting point is 00:34:17 Kyle Leahy, actually, I think I just looked up. He's a couple months older than Dustin May. Is he really? I did not realize. He's June and early June and then Dusty May is early September. Look at that. Look at that. Kyle Leah is the old man.

Starting point is 00:34:31 The old Leahy, he's got an old man name too. He is. Old man, Leahy, doing his thing. All right. Well, be sure to check that stuff out at Redbird Ranch.com. Thomas, as always, thank you so much for joining us. And we'll have you on real soon again, okay? Appreciate it.

Starting point is 00:34:46 Thank you, JD. All right. Thanks for making Lockton Cardinals. Your first listen every day. If you haven't already, give us a follow on X at L.O. underscore Cardinals at a JD Sports Radio. Find us on TikTok and Instagram at Lockdown Cardinals. Like, subscribe on YouTube.

Starting point is 00:34:57 If you never miss an episode, check out that every day or club. to Lockdownscel cardinals. To join, for those of you on video, we're going to send you to that first ever 24-7 National Lockdown Podcast Network YouTube channel. Audio-wise, make sure your second list then as our guy Sully over at Locked-on MLB.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - SHOCKWAVE: St. Louis Cardinals TRADE Brendan Donovan to Seattle Mariners—Who WON the trade?

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