The St. Louis Cardinals have performed well this season. They were not expected to contend in 2025, but are seven games above the .500 mark and right in the thick of the playoff race.
They currently hold the third National League Wild Card spot and are also just four games back in the NL Central.
Still, that hasn’t stopped speculation on potential trades. They have some pieces that teams might want.
Closer Ryan Helsley is one of them. Jeff Passan notes however that with St. Louis playing well, a trade may seem unlikely.
“Here’s the reaction from a general manager who was hoping St. Louis would start losing as expected: ‘It sucks.’ He wanted Helsley patrolling the back end of his bullpen, and he wanted the option to grab Steven Matz or Erick Fedde or Miles Mikolas. And because the Cardinals are playing a tremendous brand of baseball, none of those looks like an option at this point,” Passan wrote.
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The Cardinals could bring back a major haul for Helsley, who saved a franchise record 49 games last year.
That was enough for him to be named the NL Reliever of the Year. St. Louis needs minor league pitching depth with all of the injuries they have dealt with.
However, where they stand in the NL Central and Wild Card races makes it difficult to predict what they’ll do. If they remain in contention, then selling pieces may not make sense.
They are certainly in a good spot in the standings, but at a crossroads when it comes to what direction they will ultimately take. It will certainly be interesting to see what happens.
Helsley is in the final year of his contract, and if last year was any indication, rental pitchers will once again bring back solid returns for teams that decide to sell rather than buy.
More MLB: Cardinals $2 million reliever could be ‘expendable’ at trade deadline
