With the Cardinals viewing next season as an opportunity to transition to a younger core, various St. Louis players jumped out as logical trade candidates. was chief among them, as the hard-throwing righty is one year from free agency. Helsley is one of the best relievers in baseball and would surely get a lot of attention on the trade market. Neverthele s, reports that teams in contact with the Cardinals expect St. Louis to hold their closer into next season. President of baseball operations John Mozeliak supported that notion. (A trade is) something we will always remain open-minded to, but our plan is to have him be part of our organization, Mozeliak told Rosenthal. That aligns with reporting from , who wrote last month that the Cards were inclined to keep Helsley unle s blown away by the offers. That stops a little short of taking him off the market entirely. Its not quite as definitive a declaration as, say, As GM David Forst they were going to keep designated hitter last month. Still, its notable that the teams front office leader went on record to downplay the po sibility of a trade. Helsley has had a dominant three-year run at the back of the bullpen. He broke out with a 1.25 earned run average acro s 64 2/3 innings in Costa Rica Jersey 2022. A forearm strain wiped out a few months of his 23 campaign, but he posted a 2.45 ERA through 36 2/3 frames when able to take the mound. Helsleys arm held up over a completely healthy season this year. He fired a career-best 66 1/3 innings with a 2.04 mark over 65 appearances. After beginning his career in a setup role, Helsley proved himself an elite closer this past season. He led the majors with 49 saves while surrendering only four leads. He paced the National League with 62 games finished. Helsley punched out nearly 30% of opposing hitters against a tolerable 8.6% walk rate. Going back to the start of the 22 season, he carries a 1.83 ERA with a huge 34.6% strikeout percentage through 167 2/3 innings. That level of production behind a triple-digit fastball and wipeout slider wouldve made Helsley arguably the best reliever on the trade market. (One can debate whether hes better than Milwaukee closer , who could be dealt before his final season of team control.) MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects Helsley for a $6.9MM salary during his final trip through the arbitration proce s. Thats well below market price for a lockdown closer. Carrying Helsley into next season would be a frankly puzzling decision. The Cardinals surely feel theyd get a ton of interest at next summers deadline, though theres always the po sibility of an early-season injury tanking his trade value. An offseason trade would also keep open the chance for an acquiring team to recoup draft compensation if Helsley walks in free agency. Teams can only make a qualifying offer to players theyve had on the roster for the whole season. A team that acquires Helsley before Opening Day could make him a QO next winter; one that lands him at the deadline could not. Qualifying offers for relievers are rare but not unheard of. and declined QOs before their trips to free agency. wouldve received a QO had he not re-signed just before hitting the market. A typical Helsley season could put him in that tier. Theres enough volatility with relievers that he certainly wouldnt be a lock for the QO, but that po sibility could hold some value to other teams now and would not exist over the summer. The Cardinals themselves could make Helsley a qualifying offer if they dont trade him at all. Speculation about a full teardown has quieted in recent weeks. and , both of whom have no-trade clauses, are unlikely to be dealt after expre sing their preference to stick around. The Cards are expected to entertain trade po sibilities on . Beyond that, they could run things back with most of last years roster. , , and were their free agents of note. Perhaps the Cardinals feel they can hang in the NL Central mix if they get a few internal improvements. Theres still a decent amount of talent on a roster that finished above .500 at 83-79 this year. Winning the division would be a long shot unle s theyre active in free agency, but they seem to be willing to at least see how things play out in the seasons first couple months. Paris Saint-Germain Jersey