Cardinals 'Biggest Question' For Trade Deadline Involves Dealing Fan Favorite

The St. Louis Cardinals would prefer to avoid selling before the July 31 trade deadline but depending on how well they play over the next two weeks, their season's trajectory could change.

Despite critics predicting that the Cardinals would play poorly this season, they're 51-46 with a 6 1/2 game deficit behind the first-place Chicago Cubs in the National League Central and only 1 1/2 games out of an NL Wild Card spot.

Of all the decisions Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak must make before the upcoming trade deadline, there's one in particular that stands out the most.

"The biggest question might involve closer and free agent-to-be Ryan Helsley," ESPN's Major League Baseball expert Jesse Rogers wrote Friday morning when predicting how the Cardinals will approach this summer's trade deadline. "Sure, he's not having the same season he did a year ago, but what if Mozeliak gets an offer he can't refuse? It's not impossible to do a little adding and subtracting at the deadline and still compete."

Helsley has logged a 3-1 record with a 3.27 ERA, 36-to-14 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .260 batting average against a 1.42 WHIP and 19 saves in 33 innings pitched for St. Louis this year.

Big-market clubs such as the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies have been linked to Helsley as potential landing spots if the Cardinals decide to trade him this summer.

However, an insider close to St. Louis, The Athletic's Katie Woo, recently predicted that the Cardinals will withhold from trading Helsley this summer -- hoping to extend him a qualifying offer over the offseason and receive a competitive draft pick if he doesn't accept.

Given that St. Louis hasn't seen the postseason since 2022 and Mozeliak is in his final season as head honcho, it wouldn't be shocking to see the Cardinals hold onto Helsley this summer. Losing the two-time All-Star could drastically damage the team's chances of earning a playoff spot and it sounds as if the club is determined to play in October.