Former St. Louis Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley said earlier this month that he’s open to listening to all 30 teams as he hits free agency. The A’s, given that they had five players earn at least one save over the final two months of the season after trading away Mason Miller, could be one of the more interested clubs.
Helsley spoke to Will Sammon of The Athletic earlier this month about his upcoming free agency.
“Hopefully they see me as a backend guy. I feel like I’ve shown I can do that in my career over the last four seasons…In free agency, teams are more willing to pay you on ‘stuff.’ There are more things teams can quantify nowadays than ERA. Teams can dig deep and see what they like about guys. There are 30 teams out there, and I’ll be willing to listen to all of them.”
The A’s are also seen as a fit for Helsley, according to Jim Bowden of The Athletic, who has projected the reliever for a one-year, $10 million deal. The money and the role seem right, so let’s take a look at him.
The 31-year-old right-hander has spent all but 20 innings of his big-league career with the Cardinals, and those innings came in the second half of 2025 after he was traded to the New York Mets where he put up a 7.20 ERA (3.30 FIP), giving up as many long balls as a Met that he had in 2023 and 2024 combined (4).
While the last look that most people got of him was as a member of the Mets, that team was in a free fall long before he arrived, and New York isn’t the easiest place to just show up and have success.
From 2022, when he took over as the closer in St. Louis, to 2024, the righty put up a 1.84 ERA across 167 2/3 innings (55 2/3 on average) with a 0.954 WHIP and 82 total saves. Those are all terrific numbers, and for $10 million, the A’s should absolutely jump for his services.
In his time with St. Louis this season, he held a 3.00 ERA (3.55 FIP) across 36 innings, and outside of a couple of extra long balls, everything seemed to be comparable to where it had been the previous three years. It was that transition to New York that switched things up.
He’d also serve as a solid replacement for Miller, as Helsley sits 99.3 miles per hour with his heater, while his slider is actually the pitch to watch out for. He’ll also throw in a curveball from time to time and a surprise cutter now and again to keep hitters off-balance.
Helsley would be an interesting target for the A’s to consider, given his struggles over the final two months. He wants to be used as a back-end guy, but if a team pays him like a back-end guy and asks him to pitch in the game’s biggest spots, would he be open to that too?
The A’s showed a lot of promise by mixing and matching their relief pitchers last season. From August 1 (after they traded Miller) to the end of the season, their relievers held a 2.99 ERA, which was good for the second-best in baseball.
That said, if it takes giving a veteran like Helsley the ninth inning in order to land him, that may just have to be something the team considers. Position-by-position, this team doesn’t want for much. They could use more of a veteran presence, however. Especially on the pitching staff.
It wouldn’t be a bad move to even offer him a second year, if that’s what it takes. The other projected landing spots for Helsley, according to The Athletic, were the Detroit Tigers, San Francisco Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates and Tampa Bay Rays.