A shake-up may be in store for the Cardinals' former closer

The St. Louis Cardinals were busy at the 2025 trade deadline, dealing four pitchers in exchange for crops of prospects. No move was more painful for Cardinals fans than the shipping out of closing pitcher Ryan Helsley to the New York Mets for Jesus Baez, Nate Dohm and Frank Elissalt. Although Helsley hadn't been able to match his 2024 numbers, he still pitched to a 3.00 ERA and saved 21 games for St. Louis before performing disastrously with the Mets down the stretch.

After Helsley allowed 16 earned runs in 20 relief innings with the Mets and rumors surfaced that he was tipping his pitches, the Mets announced that they would not be retaining his services for 2026. While Helsley has carved out a fine career finishing games, some teams interested in signing him appear to have different plans for the right-hander.

Multiple teams have expressed interest in converting Helsley to a starting pitcher.

According to an article in The Athletic (subscription required), the Detroit Tigers are among several teams looking at Helsley as a potential piece in their rotation, with him possibly serving as a complement to ace Tarik Skubal if he remains in Detroit.

Starting wouldn't be foreign to Helsley. During his time in the Cardinals' farm system, Helsley pitched most of his games out of the rotation before the Cardinals converted him to a closer upon his promotion to the big leagues. In the minors, Helsley pitched in 87 games and started 69 of them.

To pitch in a major league rotation, Helsley would need to tweak his arsenal. Thus far in his career, Helsley has relied almost exclusively on a fastball and slider, but with starters generally needing at least four pitches, Helsley will be forced to expand his repertoire and hone his little-used curveball and cutter.

It's been a recent trend in baseball to convert closers into starters. Clay Holmes, Seth Lugo, Garrett Crochet, Michael King and former Cardinal Jordan Hicks are among the stoppers turned starters over the past few seasons, and if Helsley can convert his Cardinals closing success to a rotation, Helsley could benefit the Tigers or another team massively.

Helsley has mentioned that he would like to return to St. Louis, and some outlets have linked the two for a possible reunion, especially given a possibly deflated price tag after his immense struggles in Queens. Helsley said on the "Cardinal Territory" podcast that he expects to hear from the Cardinals this offseason and that he has talked with the Cardinals' new president of baseball operations, Chaim Bloom, after he was sent to New York.

If Helsley were to return to St. Louis, the Cardinals might be one of the squads that could attempt to convert him to a starting role. The Cardinals' top starter, Sonny Gray, is a candidate to be traded this offseason, and Miles Mikolas is unlikely to re-sign, leaving their starting corps woefully thin. Placing Helsley in their rotation would help shore up what is likely to be one of the Cardinals' major weaknesses in 2026, and Helsley may even be willing to take a discount to rejoin the team where he spent most of his career.

The whispers about the Cardinals, Tigers or another club using Helsley as a starter have begun to ramp up, and whether he returns to St. Louis or not, Cardinals fans would be eager to see how the former closing stalwart performs in his new role.