The day after Justin Hollander and Jerry Dipoto both said at Fan Fest that the Mariners were still looking to make one impact move, they reportedly backed that up today with the most significant trade of the Mariners off-season, a three-team trade with the Rays and Cardinals that will bring long-anticipated trade target Brendan Donovan to Seattle. While we’re still waiting for the full details of the trade, which was broken by Jeff Passan, reportedly the Mariners are sending third baseman Ben Williamson
to the Rays as part of it. We will update this article as more information emerges.
Adding Donovan solidifies an infield mix that was shaky for the Mariners after the free agency departure of Jorge Polanco, with a trio of youngsters in Cole Young, Ben Williamson, and Colt Emerson in the mix but question marks hanging over each. Williamson was the most sure thing of that crew defensively, already playing at a Gold Glove level clip; he’s now headed to Tampa Bay as part of the deal.
Donovan doesn’t come close to replacing Polanco’s power output, but he does offer a reliable presence in the lineup as a high-average player who refuses to strike out. At 29, he’s probably shown about all he will in the power department, with his peak of 14 homers coming in 2024. As a lefty swinger, Donovan will join the Mariners’ other lefty regulars Josh Naylor, J.P. Crawford, and whichever of Dominic Canzone/Luke Raley is playing RF/DHing.
Defensively, Donovan offers positional flexibility, having played major-league innings at every position except catcher and center field. He even won a Gold Glove, in the first year the committee recognized Utility players as a position. However, the bulk of his experience has come at second base, a position that is currently theoretically filled by Cole Young, with Ryan Bliss behind him. That means either Donovan will shift to third, or Cole Young or Colt Emerson will slot over there instead. Likely the Mariners will use spring training to sort out their best defensive alignment for the bats available.
