Why Boston Red Sox Should Trade for Brendan Donovan

[Alex Mayes]

After the first day of the Winter Meetings, there have been multiple rumors and reports swirling around the Boston Red Sox. Craig Breslow and company seem to be busy scheduling meetings with teams, Zoom calls with players, and trying to put packages together to land them their impact bat for the middle of the order. A still glaring hole in the defense. though, sits at second base. At Talk Sox, we’ve highlighted the issues at second base both in writing and through our podcast, and it seems that this offseason could be the right time to finally plug that hole for the foreseeable future. All Breslow has to do is pick up the phone and give old friend Chaim Bloom another call.

Brendan Donovan is expected to be traded at some point this offseason as the Cardinals navigate a near-complete tear down and rebuild. Donovan brings the perfect skillset to Boston that would fit right into Alex Cora’s lineups. He would slot in as an every day second baseman, a position he manned in 100 games last season for the Redbirds, but he is arguably the most shining example of a super-utility player that Breslow seems to covet. He won the National League Rawlings Gold Glove for utility players in 2022 and hasn’t really slowed down on defense yet. In 2025, he made appearances at second, third, shortstop, left, and right field. He’s played first base as recently as 2024 and could help to shore up that position if the team doesn’t address it fully during the offseason.

Offensively, Donovan is a dependable bat. He slashed .287/.353/.422 with a .775 OPS, 10 home runs, 50 RBIs, and a 2.9 fWAR in 2025. He was named a National League All-Star for his efforts. He worked a strikeout rate of 13% against a walk rate of 8.2% last season. so he'd infuse some much-needed contact to the top of the order. However, Donovan isn’t a bopper, at least not in his current home ballpark. Busch Stadium is notoriously pitcher-friendly, and it has done a disservice to Donovan’s hit profile. If we overlay his home spray chart over Fenway Park though, a ton of power is evident.

Yes, he's left-handed, a profile the Red Sox already have plenty of in the lineup. Look at that spray chart again, though. He’s going to the opposite field quite a bit and like many other lefties before him, spending time in Boston will teach him how to punish the Green Monster. He will have some pressure taken off of him with a move to Boston as well, as long as Roman Anthony continues to man the leadoff position in the lineup. Moving Donovan down a spot will allow for him to use his bat-to-ball skills in the best way possible and put himself in a position to score as much as possible.

It's true that Brendan Donovan isn’t the flashiest move the Red Sox could make this offseason and he won’t come super cheap since he has two more years of control remaining via arbitration. But, he is the type of player that helps cement the team as a contender in 2026. His positional versatility would allow for multiple people to receive breathers during the week and, if needed, he could slot into the lineup as the starting second baseman on a daily basis. His bat would come alive in Fenway Park, and it could prove to be one of the best deals of the offseason if Craig Breslow can pull it off.

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[JoeBrady]

No more lefty bats.

[Alex Mayes]

16 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

No more lefty bats.

Eh, it's an overblown concern. Lefty bats should play well at Fenway and his profile indicates he would thrive there.

[mvp 78]

46 minutes ago, Alex Mayes said:

Eh, it's an overblown concern. Lefty bats should play well at Fenway and his profile indicates he would thrive there.

He also has a nice LD and GB rate and really works RF/CF which is the largest part of Fenway. If he was a flyball hitter, it wouldn't be ideal. For Donovan, it could work to his advantage. 

[Alex Mayes]

2 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

He also has a nice LD and GB rate and really works RF/CF which is the largest part of Fenway. If he was a flyball hitter, it wouldn't be ideal. For Donovan, it could work to his advantage. 

He's not the fastest guy in the world, but he can move when necessary so he'd likely leg some of those out to some doubles that wouldn't be doubles in other parks. I've watched Donnie quite a bit in person and he's quicker than he seems, haha.