The St. Louis Cardinals have more potential trade pieces than just Nolan Arenado.
The eight-time All-Star has been the most talked about potential Cardinals trade chip and for good reason. He’s a player who could be a Hall of Famer one day and still is just 33 years old. Any team with World Series aspirations would be lucky to have Arenado on their team.
If the Cardinals really want to “reset” the team and add more young, cost-effective pieces, another player who could make sense to be on the trade block is star closer Ryan Helsley. He has had his name thrown around a little bit this offseason. He’s a dominant closer one year away from landing a big deal in free agency.
He led the league with 49 saves in 2024. It would be great to keep him, but if the Cardinals aren’t going to contend in 2025, having a dominant closer isn’t exactly necessary. Especially if he’s going to make just over $8 million in 2025.
Bleacher Report’s Zachary Rymer made a list of the top trade candidates with best fits for each and listed the Arizona Diamondbacks for Helsley.
“Best Fit: Arizona Diamondbacks,” Rymer said. “Sort of like Sandy Alcantara, Ryan Helsley isn’t so much available as not unavailable…It is nonetheless not hard to imagine the Cardinals being swayed into moving Helsley. They’re not exactly all-in on 2025, which will be the two-time All-Star closer’s walk year.
“According to Mark Feinsand, John Denton, and Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, one of the teams interested is the Diamondbacks. And they darn well should be. Though they’ve fortified a rotation that was a weakness in 2024, they have yet to do the same with a bullpen that was a major drain on their win probability. A trade for Helsley would not only plug the leak, but also turn the pen into a potential strength.”
The Cardinals haven’t really done much so far this offseason. Once they figure out what they are going to do with Arenado, maybe we’ll find out more about Helsley.
