The Seattle Mariners’ front office has spent so much time being linked to Brendan Donovan that it’s starting to feel like a running bit. You can find plenty of hypothetical trade packages that seem to end with, “and then the Cardinals send Donovan to Seattle.”

Cool idea. One small problem: St. Louis knows exactly what it has, and they’re reportedly asking for the kind of return Jerry Dipoto probably can’t (or won’t) justify for a contact-first infielder. The Cardinals are under no obligation to sell low. The Mariners are under no obligation to empty the farm. And honestly? It might be time to steer the conversation toward a different Cardinal altogether.

Alec Burleson should be the Cardinals hitter Mariners actually need to trade for

According to recent reporting, rival teams aren’t just chasing Donovan — they’re checking in on all other Cardinals’ main lefty bats, including Alec Burleson. He’s fresh off a breakout year and just snagged a Silver Slugger at the utility spot, quietly becoming one of the few bright spots in a frustrating St. Louis season. While Donovan’s name has the hype, Burleson might be the one whose price and profile line up more cleanly with what the Mariners actually need.

Not the flashiest name on the Cardinals’ roster, but Burleson’s bat has crashed the conversation. A .290 average, 18 homers, 59 RBI, an OPS north of .800 and a 125 OPS+ tell the story of a hitter who brings both contact and thump. That combination makes him the kind of presence you circle in the middle of the lineup, not someone you treat like a supporting piece.

Dig into the profile and it gets even more fun from a Mariners perspective. He doesn’t need to sell out for power; he just squares everything up. His underlying metrics show a hitter who lives on contact and line drives, with enough thump to punish mistakes. 

On defense, Burleson quietly checks off a bunch of Mariners-friendly boxes. Bouncing between first base, the corner outfield spots, and DH. The ideal script isn’t hard to picture: pencil him into right field in 2026, let that lefty swing breathe in T-Mobile Park, and move the rest of the pieces around him. Then, if Lazaro Montes forces his way into right in 2027, Burleson slides over to left and you’re rolling out legit power on both ends of the grass.

There’s also the reality of acquisition cost. Donovan’s market is saturated with suitors, and the Cardinals can sit back and wait for someone to blink. Burleson, while clearly coveted, probably doesn’t command the same “give us your very best, then add more” type of return. That matters for a Mariners team trying to upgrade the offense without detonating the entire farm system in one move. 

Is Alec Burleson a superstar? No. But that’s not really the point. The Mariners don’t need another face-of-the-franchise. They need good hitters. Players who make it harder for opposing teams to pitch around Julio Rodríguez and whoever else ends up anchoring the top of the order.

So yeah, keep an eye on Brendan Donovan if you want. Dream on the perfect world where the price dips, the prospects stay, and St. Louis just does Seattle a favor. But if the Mariners are serious about finding realistic, high-impact upgrades, they should be blowing up the Cardinals’ phone about the other left-handed slugger.