Ryan Helsley's bizarre and infrequent usage proves the Cardinals should've traded him

When the St. Louis Cardinals announced that they would be entering a retool (er, transition; er, youth movement) this past offseason, it seemed inevitable that they would find a trade for All-Star closer and single-season franchise save leader Ryan Helsley. Instead of a trade, Helsley entered the season as the team's closer for the 2025 season.

Ryan Helsley's value was at its peak this past offseason. He was coming off a year where he saved 49 games and posted a 2.04 ERA in 66.1 innings. Helsley struck out 79 batters, and he walked only 23 batters. It was a season good enough to finish ninth in National League Cy Young voting and win the Trevor Hoffman National League Reliever of the Year award.

Helsley's stock couldn't have been any higher than it was this past offseason, and outlets across the country truly believed he would be traded. In fact, Ryan Helsley himself thought he would not start the year with the Cardinals. “You know, when the season ended, I really thought for sure it was my last time wearing a Cardinals uniform,” said Helsley.

Now, with a team that will probably be on the outside looking in come October for the third straight year, Ryan Helsley's stock is falling.

Team president of baseball operations John Mozeliak briefly explored the trade market, but reports around the Cardinals indicated that he cut off his search after Devin Williams was traded to the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies signed Jordan Romano.

Mozeliak's search shouldn't have stopped there.

Other playoff-hopeful teams, including the Toronto Blue Jays, Texas Rangers, and Atlanta Braves, were all in search of a high-leverage reliever this winter. Mozeliak could have easily found a willing trade partner from that bunch.

John Mozeliak's inability to trade Ryan Helsley last offseason has hampered both Helsley's performance and the St. Louis Cardinals' return in a trade at the deadline.

Ryan Helsley won't reach 49 saves again this year. In fact, he may not even be put in 49 save opportunities given the team's current record and standing. As of May 3rd, Helsley has four saves in six opportunities (two blown saves), and he's only pitched in 11 of the team's 33 games so far.

Helsley is off to a good start so far: He has a 4.09 ERA in 11 innings, and he's only allowed a run in three of his 11 appearances. That's a strong stat line for a reliever overall, especially considering the fact that his numbers will balance out as he pitches more.

By Helsley's 11th appearance last year, he had logged seven saves, and his 11th appearance came as early as April 19th. He just made his 11th appearance on May 2nd this year, two weeks later than last year.

Because the Cardinals haven't been able to put Helsley in save situations this year, he's had to be thrown into unique and bizarre situations.

He's only been entered into six save situations, and he's come into games where the Cardinals aren't in the lead multiple times this year. Helsley has appeared in the final inning of a game where the Cardinals are losing four times this year. Last year, he did that only five times. Manager Oli Marmol has been forced to use Ryan Helsley in unique situations just to keep him warm.

Helsley has had more than three days of rest five times this year already. In 2024, he pitched on more than three days of rest only 12 times. Ryan Helsley notched his fifth save on April 12th last year. He has yet to save five games this year, and it's already May 4th.

The St. Louis Cardinals did not have a need for a closer of Ryan Helsley's caliber on their roster this year, and now his value is dropping due to his performance, his irregular usage, and his shrinking free-agent clock. Holding onto Helsley also put the club at risk of seeing him get injured, thus losing all trade value he had.

John Mozeliak should have traded Ryan Helsley this past offseason. Now, due to poor team performance, his value is dropping with each passing day. While some clubs have expressed interest in Helsley lately, the organization will not get the prospect return it could have gotten months ago for their All-Star closer.