Cardinals At Crossroads With Franchise-Altering Deal Looming

It's finally trade deadline week.

After months of rumors and speculation, the 2025 Major League Baseball trade deadline will pass this week on July 31st. It's been a long few months with speculation left and right. Finally, we'll find out what has been real, and what has just been noise. The St. Louis Cardinals have been the subject of more rumors than pretty much every other team out there.

Right now, the Cardinals' biggest question revolves closer Ryan Helsley. The 31-year-old has spent his entire seven-year MLB career with St. Louis and has turned into a star. Last year, he won the Trevor Hoffman NL Reliever of the Year Award. Right now, he has a 3.00 ERA and 21 saves in 36 appearances.

Reports have surfaced hinting that the Cardinals are shopping Helsley. The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal weighed in and noted that teams prefer him over one of the longer-term, controllable options out there right now.

"Here’s the conundrum for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays and all the other contenders with at least a passing interest in adding a top reliever: Do you overpay for an elite, controllable late-inning weapon such as the Athletics’ Mason Miller, Cleveland Guardians’ Emmanuel Clase or Minnesota Twins’ Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax?

"Or, for maybe 30 percent of the price, do you acquire the St. Louis Cardinals’ Ryan Helsley as a rental? Many teams would prefer Helsley, who is not quite what he was last season when he won the Trevor Hoffman Award as the best reliever in the National League, but is still pretty darned good," Rosenthal noted.

The Cardinals have a question on their hands. Helsley has made it clear over and over that he would prefer to stick around. But, is this his final week with the organization?