The Cardinals seem less likely to trade Ryan Helsley than they did earlier in the offseason. But we’re getting closer to the start of spring training, and some new rumors have emerged.
On Thursday, John Denton of MLB.com reported that both the Blue Jays and Diamondbacks were showing “strong interest” in Helsley. The popular consensus at the end of 2024 was that the Cardinals were going to hold onto him until at least the trade deadline.
However, this is an interesting development. While it may be true that teams are getting the sense Helsley won’t be available until the deadline, that doesn’t mean that a trade before the season won’t happen.
First, let’s take a look at the Blue Jays’ farm system, which is perpetually loaded after they sent Yusei Kikuchi to the Astros at last year’s deadline. They have several position players in their system that are MLB ready, and the Cardinals are short on that in their system.
Because the Brewers didn’t fetch a massive haul in exchange for Devin Williams, I doubt that the Cardinals will be able to land a prospect such as Orelvis Martinez. Jake Bloss, though is intriguing to me as a pitcher, and I feel like the Cardinals need to add at least one MLB ready pitcher to their system.
I like the idea of potentially acquiring somebody like Will Wagner, who can play three of the four infield positions. He doesn’t have much power, but does hit for a high average, so having him and Luken Baker compete for a spot on the Opening Day roster might be interesting. Wagner hit .305 in 24 games with the Blue Jays last year and had a .315 average in the minors.
Arizona has great prospects too, such as Jordan Lawlar and Druw Jones. Those are their top two prospects, and I don’t think the Cardinals will be able to get their hands on either one of them.
While I’d like to see the Cardinals get a pitcher in a potential trade, position players are a bigger need, and beyond Lawlar and Jones, many of Arizona’s position player prospects aren’t expected to be MLB ready until at least 2026. As such, I think the Cardinals would be better served making a deal with the Blue Jays for Helsley if one comes to pass, though Arizona’s No. 6 prospect, Yilber Diaz could potentially be had in a trade. He went 1-1 during the regular season with a 3.81 ERA.
At this point, after seeing the Brewers receive and underwhelming package for Williams, I’m almost thinking it might be better to hold onto Helsley, contrary to my thought process on the matter last month. The deadline is often when teams overpay for relief pitchers on expiring contracts, so it might be worth waiting at his point.
Still, the Blue Jays have the better prospects to offer in my opinion, and if a Helsley trade happens between now and spring training, Toronto would be the better place to look between them and Arizona.
We’ll see how the market develops in the coming weeks leading up to spring training.
