The Brendan Donovan deal is finally complete on paper, and the Cardinals used the draft to put the finishing touches on it.
St. Louis selected outfielder Andrew Williamson and right-hander Dawson Montesa with the 68th and 72nd overall picks in the MLB Draft, locking in the two Competitive Balance selections that were part of the winter trade that sent Donovan to the Seattle Mariners. Those picks were a major piece of the return from the three-team swap, and now they’re officially in the Cardinals’ hands.
Williamson brings the loudest bat in the group. The University of Central Florida outfielder was Baseball America’s 48th-ranked prospect entering the draft, and the appeal is obvious: big-time power.
The left-handed hitter turned 21 today, hit a career-high 16 home runs in his junior season, and walked 17.7% of the time. He’s the kind of player who makes a lineup feel different the moment he steps in.
Montesa, who pitched at West Virginia University, offers a different kind of upside. He’s 20 and comes with a fastball that lives in the mid-90s and has touched 98 MPH.
His changeup could become a real weapon behind it, while both his curveball and slider project as above-average pitches. He’s unusually young for a college arm in this class, and his athleticism gives the Cardinals another developmental project with plenty of room to grow in their pitching system.
Those two draftees join the other prospects St. Louis already picked up in the Donovan trade: switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje, outfielder Tai Peete, and outfielder Colton Ledbetter.
Cijntje has had a mixed season with the Cardinals’ Double-A affiliate, putting up a 5.04 ERA in 17 starts while striking out 100 batters in 80.1 innings. Even so, the ceiling remains obvious.
He just turned in two of his better outings of the year, allowing three hits and striking out nine over six innings on the Fourth of July, then following that with eight strikeouts and two runs allowed in six innings on July 10. He remains one of the organization’s top pitching prospects.
Peete has shown his talent when healthy, but injuries have slowed him down. In 30 games for High-A Peoria, he’s hitting .273/.350/.523 with five home runs, 24 RBI and five stolen bases. The problem is availability: he’s back on the injured list after already missing more than a month between late May and early June.
Ledbetter, 24, is at Memphis and has held his own in his first run at Triple-A, batting .244/.313/.393 with seven home runs and 30 RBI. The Rays took him in the second round in 2023, and he can handle all three outfield spots, though he probably fits best in a corner. He may not carry the same ceiling as some of the other names in the deal, but he’s still a useful addition.
So now the Donovan trade has its full shape: Cijntje, Peete, Ledbetter, Williamson and Montesa. The Cardinals have added a mix of power, arms and upside, and the return is now fully finalized.
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