Ryan Helsley's Trade Value Taking Massive Hit With Recent Struggles

The St. Louis Cardinals have a tough decision to make with their star closer Ryan Helsley. Helsley is on an expiring contract and is projected to sign for $81 million when he hits free agency, per Spotrac. The Cardinals likely won't re-sign him for that kind of money, so this seems to be his last year in St. Louis.

This indicates the Cardinals should trade him, right?

Except the Cardinals are winning a lot of games right now. They're winning so many games that they might end up being buyers instead of sellers at the deadline.

But there's also a big issue with Helsley right now. He's tanking his trade value following a few bad outings.

Coming into June, Helsley was 13 for 15 on save attempts. But the righty has blown each of his last three save attempts due to six hits and three earned runs in three innings this month.

While this won't completely tank his trade value, it's certainly going to cause some concern for interested teams.

Helsley's season ERA is approaching 4.00 while his WHIP is over 1.50. This comes in 24 innings, so the sample size is big enough to judge him. His ERA also isn't inflated due to one huge inning like we often see with relievers.

Either way, trading Helsley seems like the right move for St. Louis. The Cardinals are just going to need him to find his way back to executing his save opportunities before he's dealt away.