Breaking: Phillies Emerge as Potential Trade Partner for All-Star Closer
With spring training underway for the Philadelphia Phillies, the team will be ready to compete for a National League pennant in 2025.
After a disappointing end to the campaign in 2024, the Phillies had a fairly quiet but strong offseason.
There weren’t a ton of needs for the team, but the ones that they had were addressed with some solid new faces.
Over the past several years, the bullpen has consistently become an issue at the wrong time for Philadelphia. Coming into the postseason last year, the unit was looking strong led by Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez.
However, with both players being free agents after the offseason, changes in the bullpen seemed inevitable. Change did end up coming this winter, with the Phillies letting both Hoffman and Estevez leave in free agency.
Philadelphia elected to go in a different direction with the signing of former All-Star closer Jordan Romano. The talented right-hander from the Toronto Blue Jays can give the Phillies a potentially great closer. However, he is coming off a bad year in which he dealt with injuries.
While there is a lot of upside for Romano, there is also the potential that he won’t regain his All-Star form. If that becomes the case, Philadelphia might be in the market for another closer.
Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report recently wrote about the Phillies being a potential landing spot in a trade for two-time All-Star closer Ryan Helsley.
It’s been a strange offseason for the St. Louis Cardinals, who have long been rumored to move some of their top players and enter a bit of a rebuild. Currently, two players mentioned the most are third baseman Nolan Arenado and Helsley.
The two-time closer is the much more appealing trade target, since the Phillies are covered at third base.
The 30-year-old right-hander is coming off an excellent 2024.
Last season, he went 7-4 with a 2.04 ERA and 49 saves for a team that wasn’t very good. His 3.0 WAR is a ridiculous number for a relief pitcher and a testament to how valuable he was to the Caridnals.
For the Phillies, Helsley would be a great player to target with or without an effective Romano in 2025.
Philadelphia has been held back in October because of their bullpen and with their talented core not getting any young, the time to win is now.
Helsley will certainly be a name to keep an eye on until the trading deadline, especially for some of the contenders like the Phillies.
