After career year, Ryan Helsley prepares for potential final season with Cardinals

New York Times

27-02-2025

JUPITER, Fla. — The back fields of a spring training complex can be hectic, especially in the early weeks of camp. With so many drills underway, it can be difficult to pinpoint who is doing what and where at each of the six fields at the St. Louis Cardinals' facility.
Unless you're looking for Ryan Helsley. To find him, you simply need to listen for the bells.
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As Helsley jogged out to the Field 2 mound for his first live batting practice of the season, the familiar chime of AC/DC's 'Hells Bells' rang over the speakers of the Cardinals' back fields. The 1980s classic that once signaled the arrival of another premier reliever, Trevor Hoffman, is now associated with Helsley; for the last two seasons, it has served as his walk-out song as he enters the ninth inning.
Helsley couldn't help but laugh when he heard his song playing. After an offseason of uncertainty, he is just glad to have some familiarity heading into the season.
'Baseball is a crazy game,' Helsley said after a recent bullpen session. 'Year to year, you never know what you're going to get.
'But I'm excited. I'm ready to go and to do my best to be as good as I was last year.'
All-Star ✔️MLB saves leader ✔️Franchise single-season saves record ✔️NL Reliever of the Year ✔️
Ryan Helsley has won the Trevor Hoffman Award for National League Reliever of the Year!#ForTheLou pic.twitter.com/qy3v4tnK2R
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) November 15, 2024
After a career season — his 49 saves led the majors and set a Cardinals franchise record — Helsley is back in St. Louis for his 10th season in the organization and final year before hitting free agency. A fifth-round MLB Draft pick in 2015, Helsley is the longest-tenured Cardinal, though his loyalty to the club far predates his selection. Helsley, who is from Tahlequah, Okla., grew up a Cardinals fan.
'This is all I've ever known,' Helsley said with a shrug and a smile. 'I'm still excited to be here.'
At the end of last season, Helsley didn't think he would be back. After the Cardinals announced their intention to trim payroll and focus on a younger roster, Helsley figured he'd be one of the first players traded. His dominant season as one of baseball's best closers raised his value. The reliever was also due for a hefty raise in his final year of arbitration, which clashed with the Cardinals' desire to limit spending. If St. Louis wanted to cut payroll and bolster the farm system, trading an elite closer poised for a salary bump seemed logical enough.
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So when president of baseball operations John Mozeliak called Helsley's representatives at Wasserman in mid-November, he just assumed the call was to tell him he'd been traded. Instead, the call reflected the opposite: Mozeliak did not want to trade Helsley and intended to keep him as the Cardinals' closer to start the 2025 season.
'When they publicly announced that we were going to shift gears and go a different direction, I think 99 teams out of 100 that publicly say stuff like that would probably trade most of the guys that are due for a pay raise,' Helsley said. 'So I was a little surprised to come back.'
So was most of the industry. Several rival executives believed Helsley was a sure-fire name to be dealt over the winter. But Mozeliak hardly entertained the notion, citing a desire to keep St. Louis competitive despite the change in the organization's direction.
'That was not my goal to move him,' Mozeliak said earlier in camp. 'From an organizational standpoint, we pointed out what this was going to look like.'
Ryan Helsley is your Trevor Hoffman National League Reliever of the Year!
He is the first @Cardinals reliever to win the award. pic.twitter.com/bF9mwwAEHv
— MLB (@MLB) November 15, 2024
Helsley indeed saw a major raise in arbitration: He and the Cardinals settled on an $8.2 million salary for 2025, a near $5 million increase from his 2024 salary of $3.5 million. He acknowledged things feel different this spring — 'One of the old guys now,' the 30-year-old joked. He's eager to build upon last year's sensational All-Star campaign in which he pitched in 65 games and converted all but four of his 53 save opportunities. Family changes are on the horizon, too. Helsley and his wife, Alex, are preparing to welcome their second child, another daughter, in early April.
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He's also doing his best to block out the gnawing feeling that this could be his last year in the only uniform he has ever worn. Depending on the team's performance, trade rumors could again emerge around this year's deadline. There's also the question of what will happen when he hits free agency. Should he repeat his 2024 performance, Helsley will likely be one of the most sought-after closers.
He wants to remain in St. Louis, he said, but understands the looming turnover in Cardinals leadership could impact his fate.
'I would love to stay here,' Helsley said. 'Cardinals baseball, you think of winning baseball, so surely they're not going to try to be average or below average for too long. Hopefully, I can pitch at a high level for four or five more years.'
Still, there have been zero talks of an extension, Helsley said. With Mozeliak stepping down after the 2025 season and adviser Chaim Bloom taking over baseball operations, there likely won't be. This is by design. Except for three notable players with no-trade clauses (Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras and Nolan Arenado), most of the Cardinals' heavy contracts will be coming off the books. This includes Miles Mikolas ($17.7 million), Steven Matz ($11 million) and Erick Fedde ($7.5 million). Bloom will decide which players he wants to retain and at what price, though the parameters will be dictated by ownership.
'I would definitely be open to (an extension), but it has to be both ways,' Helsley said. 'With changes in leadership coming up, I feel like they've probably just decided to keep this as is and see what happens. Maybe at the end of the season there will be something, but as of right now there's been nothing.'
Helsley instead will focus on posting consecutive injury-free seasons, something he has yet to do in his career. Being used as a traditional ninth-inning closer allowed him to better prepare and care for his body. He feels he has found his calling as the Cardinals' closer and is ready to pick up where he left off, even if the team projects to take a step back.
'One of the things last year for me was taking a big step forward and embracing the closer role and having a short-term memory,' Helsley said. 'To not let things roll over to the next day and really try to learn from the night before, good or bad. I want to be the same guy that shows up every day. Stay healthy, give myself the best chance to succeed.'
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With so much about his future up in the air, that's all he can focus on. Above all, he's grateful for his time in St. Louis and will embrace whatever time remains.
'It's kind of cool in the sense of when you get drafted, obviously you always want to play and have a long career,' Helsley said. 'But I don't know if you can really envision the type of success that I've had. I'm very thankful and blessed for that.'