Reader Mailbag, Part 1: Brendan Donovan trade talk, JJ Wetherholt's role, rookies not named JJ Wetherholt, the catcher battle, and more

Readers have questions, writer has answers -- some of them possibly correct and coherent

You, gentle readers, replied in abundance to the recent call for mailbag submissions, so I’ll be breaking up my responses into two episodes. The first can be found just below, and the second will be dropping soon. Onward …

Eric writes:

It seems the front office has misread the market on Donovan. Do you think they hang onto him and try to deal him at the trade deadline? If so, I can’t imagine the return will be any better unless he goes nuclear in the first half. I appreciate the aggressive asks, but sometimes you have to adjust expectations as the market evolves. Sometimes it’s about getting the best possible return rather than “winning” the trade.

This is possible but ultimately unknowable. I thought Chaim Bloom was wise, at least on a theoretical level, to wait until Ketel Marte was pulled off the trade block by the Diamondbacks, but on the other hand he also waited until Luis Arráez, somewhat surprisingly, was signed by the Giants to be a second baseman. On the third, disembodied hand, Eugenio Suárez is now heading to Cincy and thus won’t be back with the Mariners in 2026. In any event, I continue to think the Mariners are the best fit for Donovan in terms of roster need and organizational pitching depth from which to trade. That, obviously, is still a possibility. The Red Sox also make a lot of sense as a Donovan destination, and as we know Bloom and his former club have already aligned on multiple major trades this winter.

On another level, trading during the offseason as opposed to leading up to the deadline is trickier. In the winter, teams in need of roster improvements have trade candidates like Donovan as possible solutions, but they also have free agents at their disposal. As well, internal solutions like prospects and young major leaguers may still be dreamed upon, which isn’t the case when the trade deadline is coming into view. In the winter, there’s always going to be a certain level of appeal for free agents compared to trade targets because free agents cost “just” money – laying aside, for the moment, the loss of a draft pick for signing a Qualifying Offer free agent – whereas trade additions cost young talent in return and also involve the assumption of salary obligations.

As for your concluding remark, I agree, but on the sell side of the trade, getting the best possible return is tantamount to “winning” the deal. That’s no doubt what Bloom and company want to achieve. On that front, I’ll still guess they line up with Seattle and complete a trade of Donovan before Opening Day.

Thomas writes:

If Bloom doesn’t get the return he desires for Donovan before ST, do you think he will continue to try to move him through the deadline and next offseason? Or will they eventually decide he is part of the immediate future and give him a 4-5 year contract extension?

I think revisiting Donovan talks leading up to the deadline is indeed a possibility, and as just noted above the deadline provides a more easily clarified opportunity for such trades. That doesn’t mean the return will be stronger, but it does in some ways simplify the process. If he’s still a Cardinal by the end of the 2026 season, then the calculus becomes different.

If at that point there’s cause to believe that the rebuild will begin yielding the desired on-field results, perhaps as soon as 2027, then keeping Donovan and possibly even extending him is certainly possible. For that to happen, Jordan Walker will have to take the next positive step in his development during the 2026 season. As well, JJ Wetherholt will probably need a promising rookie season, and multiple young arms will need to emerge as mid-rotation solutions (or better). That’s merely a partial listing of what’s required to hasten the rebuild timeline. Needless to say, I don’t think it’s likely all of those boxes will be checked in 2026, which is why I think Donovan will be traded. Framed another way, the only way I see Donovan sticking around in St. Louis and signing an extension that gives up one or more free agent years is if he’s not traded this offseason, the first half of 2026 goes well enough to rule out a Donovan trade at the deadline, and then multiple core young players take notable steps forward across all of 2026. Again, that seems like a quite improbable sequence of events.

Keith writes:

I can legitimately think of 30 or more questions for this team going into spring training.

I’ll be as brief as I can!

1) what do the Cardinals Hope, and what do they realistically expect from Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman?

2) assuming Donovan is not traded, does he play second base or is he utility and where does that put JJ?

3) who’s going to do the bulk of the catching and where will Herrera spend most of his time? His bat has to be in the middle of the lineup every day.

4) besides JJ, what rookie do you think will make the most positive impact in spring training and win a roster spot?

Good questions that hit on major subplots going into next season. Let’s take these in order.

1 - Walker’s list is, unfortunately, expansive. He needs to improve his recognition of breaking stuff, especially from same-side pitchers attacking him away. He needs to cut down on his swing and miss. He needs to elevate the ball more – i.e., significantly reduce his ground-ball tendencies – so as to tap into his impressive strength and make the most of his elite bat speed and exit velocities. Gorman needs to continue last season’s trend of strikeout reduction, but at the same time he needs to be more aggressive on pitches in the strike zone. A huge step forward for Gorman – and one I’m not sure he’s capable of taking – would be to drive his K% and his whiff rate down into the 20s. If he can do that, we’re talking about a different player, one who’s able to get to his raw power much more often in game settings.

2 - Barring a truly disappointing spring performance in which Wetherholt struggles badly to make contact, I think he’s cracking the Opening Day roster. If he does make the roster, he’s playing every day. The Bloom regime is too smart not to play Wetherholt every day if he’s in St. Louis. If Lars Nootbaar isn’t ready for the start of the regular season after undergoing surgery on both heels, then left field will be a short-term slot for Donovan. Once Nootbaar returns, my guess is Donovan would be at second and Wetherholt would be at third, where he saw limited time in 2025. As for Gorman, he’d be floated among third, second, first, and DH, but getting him in the lineup on a daily or even near-daily basis would be a challenge. That’s especially the case if Iván Herrera doesn’t emerge as the primary catcher and thus is the regular DH. The end result would be another season of irregular playing time for Gorman, but frankly he’s much less of an organizational priority than Wetherholt is. This is a long way of saying that my semi-educated guess is that Wetherholt is the third baseman if Donovan returns.

3 - I know the hope is that elbow surgery allows Herrera to become a more effective controller of the running game, but I’m skeptical that he’ll manage that. I hope he’s able to stick at catcher because his bat becomes extra special when deployed at such a premium position. My expectation, though, is that he gives catching a go in spring training, doesn’t seize the job from a defensive standpoint, and becomes the every-day DH by Opening Day. That, meantime, would leave a Jimmy Crooks/Pedro Pagés job-share at catcher that holds until Leonardo Bernal is ready for St. Louis. Trading from the organizational surfeit of catchers is probably something that needs to happen at some point, but it’s not an immediate priority item.

4 - I don’t have a hugely satisfying answer here, as I don’t expect any surprise winners of a rotation spot or lineup role. I’ll say Luis Gastelum fights his way onto the 40-player and active rosters coming out of camp and becomes a strikeout presence in the bullpen thanks in large measure to his changeup (I do enjoy relievers who lead with the cambio). I’d love to say Quinn Mathews here, but I feel like he’s going to get significant time in Memphis coming off injuries and under-performance in 2025 no matter how he fares as an NRI in spring training.

Jay writes:

Last weekend in a tweet, Andrew McCutchen, who is irritated that the Pirates aren’t engaging with him, gave the Cardinals their flowers for their past treatment of aging icons Pujols/Yadi/Waino. The irony is that the final years for both Yadi and Waino were complete duds, and everyone could see it coming a mile away. I’m not suggesting that Bloom needs to adopt a Belichik-ian stance with aging veterans, but the Cardinals have always struggled to balance sentimentality and production, often treating and deploying fading stars like they were still in their primes. Which brings us to the Arenado trade, was it really the wrong move no matter what? I know Bloom bemoaned having to make the move publicly. And, sure, Arenado deserved a better overall Cardinals fate, but watching him bat 4th every night for two more seasons, because Oli felt the need to show him respect, wouldn’t have made sense even if we were in win-now mode.

I don’t really mind those kinds of reunions with inner-circle franchise legends like the trio you mentioned, but, really, Wainwright probably should’ve been a bulk reliever for much of his final season in St. Louis. At that, I’m still happy he got to 200 wins, which probably doesn’t happen in a relief role. As to the thrust of your contribution, I could do with fewer nakedly nostalgic transactions, and my expectation is that we will indeed see fewer of those under Bloom. I’m glad the Arenado trade was pulled off because the Cardinals really needed that infield space for younger contributors, and I like that Arenado will have a better shot at relevance and contention in Arizona as his career winds down. I would flip it and say the Arenado trade was the right move no matter what.

Eric writes:

No question, just need someone to lie to me and tell me the Cards will win the season series against the Cubs.

They will. I promise. Here’s a good time to note that the Cardinals and Cubs don’t play at all in September. This is criminal.

Big Ive writes:

Hell yea brother! what’s your favorite question?

This question is my favorite question. My least favorite question: Is a sentence that reads “This sentence is false” true or false?

All right, folks, back soon with answers to the rest of your submissions. Be well.