MLB insider suggests two logical trade destinations for Cardinals’ Ryan Helsley

It's almost a guarantee that the St. Louis Cardinals will move Ryan Helsley this offseason. The two-time All-Star closer has just one year left before hitting free agency and is sure to command significantly more value than St. Louis can give him. The Cardinals are going full youth movement in 2025, so keeping such a valuable asset makes little sense.

In a recent article for the Athletic (subscription required), Jim Bowden suggested two logical landing spots for Ryan Helsley: the Baltimore Orioles and the Boston Red Sox. Helsley was linked to the Orioles as a potential fit at the 2024 trade deadline, but when the Cardinals became buyers, a deal never panned out. Baltimore has the necessary farm depth to pull off a trade, too, as they have an excess of young position players both at the Major League level and in their farm system. The Cardinals might not land a premier prospect such as Heston Kjerstad, but Helsley's value as a top 5 reliever in all of baseball could bring back a similar haul.

The Orioles have arguably the best cost-controlled group of position players in all of baseball and all they need to supplement that is a strong rotation and bullpen. With ace Corbin Burnes hitting free agency and a notoriously rocky bullpen, Helsley would shorten games for Baltimore filling a significant hole in their roster.

The other trade partner mentioned by Bowden is much more intriguing. If the Boston Red Sox hope to contend with a promising young core in 2025, Helsley would be the perfect addition to a weaker bullpen. With Kenley Jansen hitting free agency once again, the Red Sox would much prefer a cheaper and more effective closer. Helsley fits that bill. However, that's not the most exciting part of this trade rumor.

For obvious reasons, the Red Sox farm system should be far more familiar to future Cardinals POBO Chaim Bloom, and he may be able to pinpoint which diamond in the rough prospects could end up panning out as productive players for the Cardinals. Bloom revamped Boston's farm system from one of the worst to one of the best in all of baseball, and he may be able to revamp the Cardinals system with help from a Ryan Helsley trade to his former team.

It remains to be seen how extensively the Cardinals will shop Ryan Helsley this offseason (they should shop him as aggressively as possible), but the two candidates laid out by Jim Bowden should both extremely exciting options for Cardinals fans. If it goes either way, expect the Cardinals to get a big haul of prospects for their closer.