Former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn has a laughable goal in trade talks for Cardinals standout Brendan Donovan, saying that if the Cardinals are going to trade him, he wants someone like Bryce Miller from the Seattle Mariners.

The Mariners and San Francisco Giants have been named as the leading suitors for a Donovan trade recently.

Donovan is set to turn 29 years old in January and is under control for two more seasons. A four-year veteran of the Cardinals, he’s a .282 hitter with 40 career homers and 202 RBIs. His high-average, high on-base percentage and low strikeout rate are all appealing to the Mariners, who could use him at second base, third base, DH or left field.

The urgency for Donovan could ramp up after the Mariners missed out on Jorge Polanco over the weekend. He signed a two-year deal with the New York Mets.

Lynn’s exact words

They can be heard in full here, but the money line is this:

“If I’m trading him away, I need Bryce Miller. I need someone like that from Seattle. Someone that I know I can plug-and-play… now I can stomach it, if that makes sense. But if I’m getting ‘hey this guy was in Double-A, this guy was in Double-A, this guy was in High-A, High-A, and they’re all Top-20 prospects? Who cares?”

Why Lynn’s perspective makes sense

It’s a ridiculous premise, but you can understand why Lynn feels that way. He’s a former player. Players think in terms of wanting to “win now.” Current players don’t value prospects in the way the organization does, and current players don’t think about the future like the organization does. To Lynn, and most players, what’s coming in 3-4 years is of no interest, so he’s not looking to punt any current season in favor of future value.

Lynn also played with Donovan, so since he’s seen his play up close, he likely values him even higher.

Bryce Miller has four years of team control as opposed to Donovan, who has two. Secondly, the Mariners would be making this move in order to compete now. Why would they want to move a player who is actively helping them do that – and will be around longer than Donovan? Whether or not Lynn wants to admit it, the Cardinals need prospects, and the Mariners have them, making a deal more than possible.

A deal can happen at any time, but with eight days before Christmas Eve, there is likely some urgency to get something done before the sport goes into a hibernation period.

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