Breaking: Cardinals Top Reliever Emerge As Trade Candidate In Proposed Move

Could St. Louis trade a top reliever this summer?

The St. Louis Cardinals are off to another shaky start this season, and insiders are already looking at the team’s roster for trade deadline projections.

If the Cardinals are unable to turn things around by August 1st, St. Louis may have to rebuild and move important players.

One name that’s been thrown out there as a potential trade option for the Cardinals at this year’s trade deadline would be a tough loss for the organization’s bullpen.

“Also worth monitoring in St. Louis will be closer Ryan Helsley,” Bleacher Report’s Tim Kelly wrote Tuesday, addressing his early trade deadline predictions for 2024. “He can’t become a free agent until after the (2025) season, so the Cardinals might be hesitant to move him this summer, especially if they hope to compete in 2025. But you can only throw at or near 100 mph for so long before getting hurt, so if there’s a reasonable trade offer for Helsley, you could easily make the argument for moving him.”

Helsley has a 2-2 record with a 2.25 ERA, 13-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio,.222 batting average against, and 0.92 WHIP in 12 innings pitched for the Cardinals this season.

Since last summer, when St. Louis sold right-handed pitcher Jordan Hicks to the Toronto Blue Jays, the 29-year-old has been the closer.

The Cardinals’ homegrown talent has a remarkable 2.79 ERA and 1.08 WHIP over six seasons, and he shows no signs of slowing down.

If the Cardinals were to move the fireballer this summer, who would replace him? Surely, the Cardinals do not have another reliever who can routinely pitch over 100 mph, let alone command the mound like Helsley can.

It wouldn’t make sense to trade away Helsley while he’s still young, consistently pitching quality innings and still has a year left on his contract.