The St. Louis Cardinals entered the season expecting to sell at the deadline.
Instead, St. Louis has played decent baseball, sitting at 36-29 and only four games out in the National League Central.
The Chicago Cubs look to be one of the better teams in baseball, but the Cardinals are right behind them, and if things start to fall their way, there’s certainly a possibility they could take over in the Central.
But entering the year, the Cardinals were expected to move on from players like Ryan Helsley, and this stretch doesn’t help make these decisions any easier.
Helsley, one of the top closers in Major League Baseball, was expected to be the top reliever available at the deadline. With a 3.52 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 23.0 innings, his numbers are a bit up, but he’s still been dominant at times, and would be somebody teams around the league want.
However, according to the St Louis Post’s Derrick Goold, Helsley is open to an extension in St Louis.
“There’s a lot packed into this series of questions,” Goold wrote. “Let’s try to tackle it one by one. 1) At last check, they are not, but that does not mean that the ship has passed. Helsley remains open to that conversation, and as long as he is open to it the possibility exists for the team to engage in the talks. 2) The highest paid reliever right now is around $20m, and believe you’re looking at more than $16m for Helsley, so adjust the offer accordingly around a 4-year, 5th option or 5-year deal.”
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Unless the Cardinals plan to spend money this offseason and attempt to build a competent roster, moving on from Helsley, who, most importantly, hits free agency at the end of the year, makes sense.
With what relievers have gone for at the deadline in recent years, trading him should be the Cardinals’ plan.
