Both Seattle and San Francisco were previously reported to be interested in Donovan’s services, with Woo noting the Cardinals are looking for several top prospects in return. That said, they were often mentioned as just two of many teams interested in the versatile infielder; Donovan’s market is said to include more than half the league, with the Pirates, Royals, Guardians and Astros among the other teams linked to him this winter.
That makes the Mariners and Giants “frontrunner” status a notable shift in the status quo, with Woo even going so far as to mention specific names of prospects being discussed with both clubs. In conversations with Seattle, Woo reports that the Cardinals have discussed the prospect of top pitching Jurrangelo Cijntje and outfielder Lazaro Montes. The pair are Seattle’s #7 and #3 prospects, respectively MLB Pipeline. In conversations with the Giants, Woo writes that the infielder’s names are known Gavin Kilen and southpaw Carson Whisenhunt have emerged. Kilen is San Francisco’s second candidate per pipelinewhile Whisenhunt is at number 7.
Cijntje has received a lot of attention in the baseball industry for his status as a switch pitcher who throws from both the right and left sides. He is a more highly regarded pitcher from the right side, touching the upper 90s with his right arm, but is relegated to the low 90s with his left arm. In his professional debut in 2025, Cijntje posted a 3.99 ERA overall at the High-A and Double-A levels, but he got even better after his promotion. In seven starts at Double-A, Cijntje posted an ERA of 2.67 over 33 2/3 innings of work with a strikeout rate of 25.5% and a walk rate of 11.0%.
Montes entered the 2025 season as a consensus top-100 prospect in the sport, but struggled a bit after being promoted to the Double-A level. He hit a solid but unspectacular .213/.319/.433 in 64 games at the level with a 30.5% strikeout rate. That’s hardly exciting production, but some of those issues can be forgiven when you consider that he was one of only four hitters under the age of 21 to reach 200 plate appearances in the Texas League last year, along with Sebastian Walcott, Walker Jenkinsand teammate Michael Arroyo.
Kilen was San Francisco’s first-round pick in the 2025 draft. As a result, he has just ten professional games under his belt, hitting a mediocre .205/.279/.282. That said, the University of Tennessee product hit an incredible .357/.441/.671 in his final collegiate season and was roundly viewed as a plus-contact hitter, despite questions about his power potential and ability to handle shortstops at the big league level.
As for Whisenhunt, the 25-year-old already made his big league debut earlier this year with a 5.01 ERA across five starts. While it was hardly an exciting pro debut, Whisenhunt did manage to post a 4.41 ERA in 21 starts in Triple-A’s Pacific Coast League, despite the extremely unfriendly environment for pitchers at that level. He profiles as a possible mid-rotation arm with a profile supported by a plus-plus changeup.
Of course, it’s possible that these are just a handful of prospects St. Louis is discussing with the two suitors. It should also be noted that Donovan is far from the only avenue both clubs are pursuing for their second base vacancy. The Mariners had been quite publicly pursuing a reunion with Jorge Polanco until he signed with the Mets yesterday, but they are still linked to Marte in addition to Donovan. Woo suggests that Polanco’s departure could make the Mariners more motivated to make a deal in the coming days, and perhaps that could indicate Seattle is the more aggressive suitor of the two.
Woo, on the other hand, describes the Giants as “Explore all options” while they want to upgrade Casey Schmitt And Tyler Fitzgerald at second base. Besides Marte, Brandon Lowe It is also known to be available on the trade market, while teams have also inquired about the Cubs infielder Nico Hoerner. The internal market in free agency is tilted more to the left, but Alex Bregman has expressed a willingness to play second base, shortstop, in the past Hi Seong Kim has experience in the position, and Bo Bichette has long been seen as a potential candidate to move on from shortstop at some point. San Francisco isn’t directly connected to any of these players, of course, but they all stand out as at least plausible acquisitions that could be made by a team looking for help at second base.
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