Blue Jays Diamondbacks Have Expressed Interest In Ryan Helsley

delmermollie

As the Cardinals eye a reset focused on younger players in 2025, report that the club has received interest from the Blue Jays and Diamondbacks regarding closer  . A subsequent report from confirms the interest in Helsley on the part of the D-Backs, though Gambadoro adds that the Cardinals do not appear to be interested in dealing their closer.  That apparent disinclination to deal Helsley meshes with a from earlier this month that characterized St. Louis as unlikely to part ways with Helsley this winter, with president of baseball operations John Mozeliak suggesting at the time that they plan on Helsley remaining with the team for 2025. Given the perennial desire for high-end relief talent at the trade deadline each summer, it stands to reason that if Helsley pitches anything like he did in 2024 (2.04 ERA, 49 saves, 29.7% strikeout rate) in the first half of 2025 the Cardinals would still be able to land quite the haul for his services in the event they arent in position to push for a return to the playoffs.  Given that reality, its perhaps not a shock that the Cardinals have seemingly set an incredibly high bar for even considering  Ben Gamel Jersey moving on from the two-time All-Star. The 30-year-old has been among the leagues most dominant relievers in recent years, with a 1.83 ERA and 82 saves to go with a 34.6% strikeout rate in 167 2/3 innings of work since the start of the 2022 campaign. That sort of dominant relief profile can net an impre sive return even with just one year of team control remaining, as the Brewers demonstrated when they  and  from the Yankees in exchange for star closer  .  Considering a earlier this week suggested that the Snakes had interest in Williams before he was ultimately traded to the Yankees, its perhaps no surprise that Arizona has made contact with the Cardinals regarding Helsley. Club bra s has made plain their goal of adding high-leverage relief help this winter following the lo s of  to free agency. The clubs current back-end trio of  ,  , and  is a solid one, but its easy to see why the Diamondbacks would have interest in bumping a young arm like Martinez out of the closer role and bringing in someone more established.  The Blue Jays, meanwhile, appear to be in the market for upgrades to virtually every area of their roster after a disappointing 2024 season that saw them finish dead last in the AL East. As star first baseman  enters his final year of team control before free agency, Toronto appears to be focused on adding a bat to the lineup who can help offer him protection and bulking up a starting rotation that lost  to a midseason trade and stands to lose  to free agency next winter. In addition to those two i sues, however, it cant be ignored that the Jays non-tendered longtime closer  last month and currently figure to rely on  and the  in the late innings. Adding a more proven closer to that mix would surely help turn around a Blue Jays club that saw its relievers struggle to the second-worst ERA and the worst FIP in baseball last year.  Other options beyond Helsley exist for strengthening either clubs bullpen corps, of course. Its unclear whether either club would spend what it takes to land a top-of-the-market closing option like  or  , but veteran closers like  ,  , and  are all available in free agency this winter and could be had on a shorter commitment. Sewald,  , and  are among the other relievers available who could impact a clubs late-inning mix and could be more affordable than other options available.  Andrew Taylor Jersey