Trade Revisited: Brendan Donovan a Costly Miss for Mariners Thus Far
Heading into the 2026 season, the Seattle Mariners were the odds-on favorite to represent the American League in the World Series. The Mariners have drastically underperformed those expectations, however, limping to the final month of the season barely clinging to playoff life.
Many fans want to clean house. Since ownership can’t be fired, Jerry Dipoto and Dan Wilson are on the chopping block. While nobody believes Wilson will survive the offseason, Dipoto deserves to keep his job, and Seattle fans should hope he sticks around for the long haul.
One of Dipoto’s big offseason swings might be viewed as a failure by the average fan, as Brendan Donovan has had an injury-plagued season and, like the entire team, has performed below expectations.
Hindsight is 20-20, but let’s revisit the offseason blockbuster to see who came out on top almost a season later:
The Trade
Seattle Mariners received:
- UTIL Brendan Donovan from St. Louis
Tampa Bay Rays received:
- 3B Ben Williamson from Seattle
St. Louis Cardinals received:
- RHP Jurrangelo Cijntje from Seattle
- OF Tai Peete from Seattle
- OF Colton Ledbetter from Tampa Bay
- Competitive Balance Round B draft pick from Seattle
- Competitive Balance Round B draft pick from Tampa Bay
Results to Date
While Donovan has been often injured this year, he has still been worth 1.0 fWAR and 0.6 bWAR across just 39 games. He started the year red-hot, slashing .304/.394/.518 for a .912 OPS through his first 21 games. The various injuries have since sapped his power, but he still has 22 games to get his numbers up.
Seattle still has Donovan under club control for next year, likely giving him another chance with the team, not dissimilar to former playoff hero Jorge Polanco. Retaining him on the roster will offer flexibility for Dipoto to improve the roster as well. Should Randy Arozarena walk in free agency, as most industry insiders expect, Donovan can slide out to left field to fill the vacancy. If Dipoto acquires another right fielder, or trusts highly touted prospects Lazaro Montes and Michael Arroyo, Donovan can hold down the hot corner for the year.
The Mariners might not win every trade, but they have done an exceptional job during the Dipoto era of identifying what talent to trade away at its peak value. Ben Williamson has been OK for Tampa Bay, but is no world-beater. He has slashed .247/.309/.332 for a .641 OPS. He has accumulated 1.1 bWAR but has an uninspiring 0.4 fWAR. The additional five years of club control will make Tampa Bay happy with these results, but they know their acquisition has potentially hit his ceiling.
Pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje, whom Seattle traded away, has been underwhelming as well. He was a borderline Top 100 prospect at the outset of the trade, but has struggled to the tune of a 5.04 ERA in Double-A and a 6.14 ERA in Triple-A. His command has eroded, walking 22 batters in 36.2 innings in Triple-A. Seattle will not beat itself up over giving up Cijntje in this deal, at least based on where he’s at currently in his development.
Outfielder Tai Peete has played well this year and continued his trajectory toward becoming a major leaguer. He started the year in High-A but earned a promotion to Double-A after posting a remarkable .300/.370/.611 slash line for a .981 OPS. He has continued to rake, albeit to a lesser extent, in Double-A, posting a .325/.372/.513 slash line for a .885 OPS. He is still running a 29% strikeout rate on the year, which will need to come down before he gets to the bigs, but he looks like he will be a major league contributor within the next two years. Peete is someone Seattle might regret cutting bait on.
Lastly, the M’s gave up a Competitive Balance Round B draft pick to push the trade across the finish line. With how capable Seattle is at drafting, that likely would have been another impact prospect.
Verdict
While Donovan’s performance for the rest of this year and next will likely drive how much buyer’s remorse Dipoto has, it does seem like the Mariners will lose this trade. It isn’t overtly one-sided, as Ben Williamson and Jurrangelo Cijntje both won’t be missed much. Tai Peete’s performance and the loss of a draft pick might sting a bit, but questions must be answered before Peete even reaches the majors.
Should Donovan come back strong this year, push the Mariners into the postseason, and re-emerge as the 3-WAR player he’s supposed to be next year, Seattle might actually come out on top.
Only time, and performance, will tell. But early results have not been encouraging.
