The big deal: What have Cardinals added with all of this subtraction?

Best Podcast in Baseball

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Sports, Baseball

4.6 • 690 Ratings

🗓️ 7 February 2026

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Cardinals' winter of accumulation climaxed with the trade many months in the making: They moved All-Star utility fielder Brendan Donovan in a three-team trade to Seattle and received a windfall that included two of the Mariners' top-10 prospects and two draft picks, one each from the Mariners and Tampa Bay Rays.

So, it's time to take stock.

What did all of this subtraction actually add to the Cardinals?

Back from a brief winter vacation, the Best Podcast in Baseball returns to discuss exactly that. Post-Dispatch editor Nathan Mills joins BPIB host and baseball writer Derrick Goold to explore the ramifications of the Donovan deal and much more on the eve of spring training. The podcast also explores whether the Cardinals should prioritize a contract extension for manager Oli Marmol, what the bigger benefit is for the two draft picks acquired, and what to take from the Cardinals' rise to No. 2 in Baseball America's farm rankings.

It wasn't just prospects the Cardinals added this winter. They've got a bigger scouting apparatus -- they call it an acquisitions department -- and they're going to see how big and how soon that pays off.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Back from a break, it's a brand new best podcast in baseball.
0:02.6	Editor Nathan Mills joins me to talk about the Brendan Donovan trade that finally happened,
0:06.4	the farm system rankings that have the Cardinals finally on the rive,
0:10.5	and what it means that the Cardinals are changing channels on their TV situation.
0:15.4	All of that and more in a brand new BPIB.
0:18.2	Cue the music.
0:30.1	Hello, everybody, and welcome to the best podcast in baseball, brought you by closet by design of St. Louis.
0:36.9	I'm St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derek Gould, joined this week by editor Nathan Mills from the Post-Dispatch. Nathan, you got to make this quick. I got to pack. This will be my last. And these are like my last few hours in St. Louis. Easy. You said, yeah. Well, you said this will be my last. And I started to get a little nervous. It's like, why don't you just finish that sentence before you? Final few hours. Yeah, I guess in today's landscape for journalism, we got to be careful with
0:58.6	last and some personal news. These are things that we need to, we need to like, yeah, what I went,
1:07.9	I went overseas for a little bit and come back to wildness.
1:12.2	Cardinals are on a new channel.
1:13.4	Brendan Donovan's on a new team.
1:15.5	Farm systems ranked number two by Baseball America.
1:18.5	A lot happened in 70.
1:19.8	I honestly have not, I'm not even kidding.
1:24.7	I haven't entirely unpacked from just getting back from I had a wonderful chance to go to Japan and to go to Tokyo and Kyoto in Japan.
1:34.8	It was amazing.
1:35.8	There's an amazing trip.
1:37.4	I did look for baseball wherever I could.
1:40.8	I did get a victory baseball.
1:43.2	Very excited for that as a super as a souvenir and a vintage hat from Japan's big league,
1:51.3	which was nice.
	...

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