José Alvarado has put his team in a tough spot.
The Philadelphia Phillies believed Alvarado was the solution to their closer problem after Jordan Romano failed to lock down the role early in the season. But on Sunday, Alvarado became a much bigger problem.
Major League Baseball issued Alvarado an 80-game suspension for performance-enhancing drug use, which will also make the lefty ineligible for the postseason. It’s a brutal blow for a bullpen that had already been struggling to finish games.
If the Phillies aren’t satisfied with their internal replacements for Alvarado by the trade deadline, one has to imagine they’ll take some big swings to replace him. And few relievers could be bigger swings than the defending National League Reliever of the Year.
On Sunday, CBS Sports’ R.J. Anderson named St. Louis Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley as a top trade candidate for the Phillies in the wake of the Alvarado news.
“Helsley has established himself as one of the sport’s top relievers over the last few years, earning Cy Young Award consideration in both 2022 and 2024. Will he be made available at the deadline?” Anderson wrote.
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“That would seem to depend on how the Cardinals play over the next two months. For now, anyway, they seem too good to deal their top reliever. It is worth noting that Helsley is an impending free agent, however, and that could alter the Cardinals’ calculus on such a move.”
Helsley, 30, has a scoreless inning and a save in each of his last five appearances, dropping his season ERA to 2.81. But that hot stretch has also coincided with the Cardinals rising to 26-21, only two games out of the playoff race in the early going.
Assuming St. Louis eventually comes back to earth, Philadelphia could definitely be a team to watch for the two-time All-Star Helsley. But at this point, it’s important to have multiple irons in the fire–both inside and outside the organization.
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