As if it wasn't already clear that the Cardinals were punting on this season and waiting for 2024, the latest Brendan Donovan news makes it official.

In case trading away Jordan Montgomery, Jordan Hicks, and Paul DeJong, among others, while being involved in a litany of other trade rumors as sellers wasn't enough to make it apparent that the St. Louis Cardinals are moving on to 2024 already, this ought to do it.

Brendan Donovan, who had been one of the few bright spots for the Cardinals this season when those have been hard to come by for this franchise, was evaluated by doctors on Tuesday ahead of the trade deadline.

Then came the report from Katie Woo of The Athletic at the Cards are shutting down Donovan for the rest of the 2023 season as he will undergo surgery that will keep him on the shelf for the rest of the year.

Cardinals shut down Brendan Donovan for season, make 2024 reset official

The good news for Donovan and the Cardinals is that Woo later reported that the organization expects the promising young infielder to be ready for spring training in 2024. But that also feeds into the narrative of resetting the picture before next season.

With the moves the Cardinals have made already and are still likely to make in the minutes before the trade deadline, St. Louis is still maintaining its core that was slated to be with the club after this season anyway, Donovan included. Thus, pairing a healthier version of Donovan, while not making his injuries worse in a lost 2023 season with, with Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt, Tommy Edman, Jordan Walker, Lars Nootbaar and so on makes the most sense.

It does make for a dismal final two months of the season for Cardinals fans, but if it means getting Donovan back at 100% for the 2024 season and, more importantly, that helping St. Louis get back into contention, that's a trade every member of the fan base would make after what they've been forced to endure so far in this year's campaign.