The Cleveland Guardians’ lineup needs to get better for next season. Look at any offensive statistic from last season, and the Guardians will be at the bottom of them.

It’s no secret the organization doesn’t spend a ton of money in free agency, so Cleveland’s best approach to upgrading the lineup is through a trade. One player whom the Guardians reportedly expressed trade interest in earlier this offseason was the St. Louis Cardinals’ Brendan Donovan.

Donovan would be a perfect addition to the Guardians’ roster. He’s primarily a second baseman, but can play just about anywhere on the diamond, and also is coming off an All-Star season in which he registered a .287/.353/.422 slash line.

Since he’s such a versatile defender and above-average hitter, there have been many teams that have reportedly expressed interest in the 28-year-old.

During MLB’s Winter Meeting, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch made a note that more than half of the league had reached out to the Cardinals about Donovan.

Then, on Saturday, The Athletic’s Katie Woo reported that the Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants have emerged as frontrunners to land Donovan. Woo also revealed what the Cardinals are “looking to land multiple top prospects in a return” for Donovan.

Clearly, it’s going to take a lot of prospect capital for the Guardians, or any team, to land Donovan. Looking at Cleveland’s farm system, it probably could put together a competitive package.

But at that point, would it be worth it to give up that many young players for Dononvan, who only has two more years of team control? Plus, the Guardians don’t have a huge history of trading multiple prospects for a win-now player.

Donovan would be the perfect player to keep second base warm for Travis Bazzana, until Cleveland’s No. 1 prospect made his MLB debut. Then, Donovan could have transitioned into an outfield role and maintained a boost in the lineup.

Now that there is apparently so much interest and competition in Donovan’s market, it’ll be interesting to see if the Guaridans emerge again as a possible suitor for the utility player, or if Cleveland would go in a different direction.