The St. Louis Cardinals are finally set to enter the rebuild they were anticipated to enter a few seasons ago. St. Louis could look to trade a lot of different veterans on its roster, including Ryan Helsley, Nolan Arenado, and Sonny Gray.
Jim Bowden of The Athletic expects St. Louis to enter this rebuild in a big way. Bowden predicts the Cardinals will trade Helsley, their star closer, to the Philadelphia Phillies in a blockbuster move this winter. Helsley is projected to land a six year, $82 million deal when he hits free agency after the 2025 season, per Spotrac.
"The Cardinals are focused on rebuilding and the Phillies need a hard-throwing, impact reliever. The Phillies lost two key high-leverage relievers to free agency — Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estévez — and have made it a priority to address that area this offseason," Bowden wrote. "Helsley won the Trevor Hoffman Award winner this year as the best closer/reliever in the National League, logging a 2.04 ERA with 49 saves and 79 strikeouts in 66 1/3 innings."
Bowden continued on to discuss how a trade could come to fruition. He pitched an idea where the Cardinals package Helsley and Arenado together to bring in Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm and additional prospects.
This deal would give the Phillies the reliever and Bohm replacement they're looking for. It would give the Cardinals a young All-Star at third base while also getting off Arenado's massive contract.
Nothing of this kind has been rumored to be discussed, but it's certainly the framework of a deal that could make a lot of sense. I certainly wouldn't be surprised to see these two sides come together in some sort of trade this offseason given each team's needs.
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