The Orioles have signed right-hander Ryan Helsley to a two-year contract that allows him to opt out after the 2026 season. It’s reportedly a $28MM guarantee for the Wasserman client, who’d also receive a $500K assignment bonus if he’s traded. The salary is evenly distributed, so Helsley will decide on a $14MM player option next winter.
Felix Bautista underwent shoulder surgery last August that will keep the closer on the injured list until at least August 2026, and that timeline means one setback could sideline Bautista for the entirety of the 2026 campaign. As a result, the Orioles headed into the offseason looking for multiple bullpen additions, including a pitcher with past experience as a closer.
Helsley fits that description, as he racked up 105 saves as the Cardinals’ primary ninth-inning choice from 2022-25. This stretch saw Helsley named to two NL All-Star teams, he was the NL’s Reliever Of The Year in 2024, and he even received some down-ballot Cy Young Award consideration in both 2022 and 2024. Overall, Helsley posted a 2.67 ERA, 29.12% strikeout rate, and 9.93% walk rate over 299 2/3 innings in a St. Louis uniform, from his debut with the team in 2019 until he was traded to the Mets at last July’s trade deadline.
Given the Cardinals’ struggles over the last few seasons and Helsley’s looming free agency, it was seen as a surprise that it took so long for the reliever to be traded. (In fact, the Orioles were first rumored to be interested in Helsley back in May 2024.) Even trading Helsley last winter in the wake of his excellent 2024 would’ve brought a greater return back to the Cardinals, though they still landed three prospects in the midseason deal with New York. And, considering how things went south for Helsley with the Mets, it’s hard to say the Cards didn’t come out on top in the deal.
Over 20 innings and 22 appearances with the Mets, Helsley was torched for a 7.20 ERA, with his home run rate, strikeout rate, and walk rate all going in the wrong direction. Helsley felt he was tipping his pitches during his time in New York, but whatever the cause, the move back into a setup role behind Edwin Diaz ended up as a wash. Helsley’s struggles were one of the many reasons behind a disastrous second half for the Mets that saw the team slowly fade out of the playoff race and ultimately fall short of the postseason.
Despite this rough stretch, close to half the league reportedly had interest in Helsley on the open market. The Blue Jays, Cubs, and Tigers were among the many teams who saw Helsley as a bounce-back candidate and, intriguingly, Detroit and some other clubs viewed Helsley as a potential starting pitcher. Given how Helsley has never started a game at the MLB level, it would’ve been a surprising development to see him land somewhere as a rotation candidate, but he’ll now settle into his familiar closing role in Baltimore.
MLB Trade Rumors still ranked Helsley 36th on our list of the winter’s top 50 free agents. He topped our projection of a two-year, $24MM deal, and he might end up handily topping $24MM over a two-year timeframe depending on what happens with his opt-out clause. If he rediscovers his 2024 form, Helsley will surely choose to re-enter free agency in search of a more lucrative longer-term contract. The Orioles might not mind that scenario if Bautista is back healthy by that point, and Helsley could then be tagged with a qualifying offer heading into free agency next winter.
Helsley brings elite velocity and spin with his 99.3mph fastball, though batters teed off on Helsley’s fastball in 2025, and his slider has been the more effective of his pitches over the last few years. The righty has long struggled to avoid walks or hard contact, though the home run ball was never a huge issue until his brief stint with the Mets. It obviously wasn’t the ideal platform for Helsley as he entered free agency, yet it is understandable why the Orioles still felt comfortable in making a two-year investment in his services.
Even a two-year pact counts as a big step for an O’s front office that has been pretty conservative about investing heavily in free agents. Much of Mike Elias’ seven-year stint in charge of the baseball operations department was spent rebuilding, of course, but Tyler O’Neill’s three-year, $49.5MM deal from last winter is the only other multi-year contract Elias has even given to a free agent. The Orioles’ disappointing 75-win performance in 2025 may have raised the urgency level, as Baltimore has been linked to a number of top-shelf names in this year’s free agent market.
Between signing Helsley and re-acquiring old friend Andrew Kittredge, the back end of the Orioles’ bullpen looks much sturdier than it did at season’s end. More relievers could still be on the way, but Baltimore’s primary pitching need is now rotation help.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported that Helsley was in agreement with Baltimore on a two-year deal with an opt-out. Katie Woo of The Athletic had the $28MM guarantee, while The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal first reported the $500K assignment bonus. The Associated Press reported the salary breakdown.
Inset photo courtesy of Brad Penner — Imagn Images
As a starter or closer?
Win-win deal if Orange birds got him as a closer. Two weeks in Flushing does not define him.
It was the beginning of the end.
That’s honestly what they deserved for pitching him 22 times in two weeks.
how do pitch 22 times in 2 weeks??
I think he is making fun of my typo. I meant two months not two weeks. The point is Helsley had only 20 innings with the Mets. During that time, he gave up four homers and 11 walks. In all of 2024, he gave up three homers and 23 walks. It is a mere blip in evaluating his potential.
agreed!! Definitely did not have him going 2/28 though, and definitely did not have going to the Orioles!!!
That was more money than I would have been willing to part with. After last season where he was erratic. I see why Hoyer wasn’t interested.
Keep in mind this is the same team that gave Kimbrel big money when he was bad.
doubleheaders?
And the same team that didn’t give a lot of other players miney when they were bad. Your statement makes zero sense.
MLB – Win-win-win as I got this one right, don’t ask me how. LOL
FYI to all posters
You may not want to disclose if you got one right that almost no one else guessed. The contest has everyone’s real name so a troll or psycho could go through the names to try to match real names with user names.
I wish there was a way to put the scores next to everyone’s user names instead, I am curious whether the quality of posts has even a slight correlation to contest acumen.
MLB – I appreciate your concern for safety as you’re right, there’s a lot of whackjobs out there. But I don’t think we need to worry too much based on what I know.
My understanding is there’s around 5,000 entries. I don’t believe there’s a way to search for everyone who picked Helsley correctly. Nobody is gonna manually check 5,000 entrant picks looking to see if they picked Helsley.
Even if you could do a search by selection, probably at least 500 people picked correctly.
Many entrants have provided just their first name or initials.
Chances are many didn’t use their real full name, especially those who are or were connected to MLB.
You don’t need an account to enter, just an email.
Some people, like myself, could be just playing along without having actually entered.
And I totally agree there’s no correlation between quality of posts and contest score. For example in the past some MLBTR writers did quite poorly in the contest.
Without inside knowledge it’s just one big guessing game.
Several already have picked 7 correctly… amazing luck?
no it has nothing to do with each other. if you are on this site you already likely have enough sense to know the rebuilding teams are not signing big time FA- and at that point it is almost like throwing darts as to where the non top 10 guys sign.
Like here- I would have called the Os signing a SP in the 10-15 range and a short term closer on a bigger money deal. I would not have called this signing even though it fits either group.
Has to be as a closer. The SP stuff never made sense and the O’s specifically wanted the closer with experience in the 9th. Fair question with the recent reporting but can’t imagine that’s what the O’s are doing here.
So what happens to Felix Bautista? Is he now a setup man?
Injured for most of next year.
Felix is out at least until August. By then, Helsley will have proven if he can still pitch with a bird on his jersey.
Whether or not be can, he’ll have green in his pocket.
Or is it the other way around.
Bird in his pocket? I hope he doesn’t sit down.
Injured and IF he comes back this season, it won’t be until the very end of the season.
He seems to do better with birds on his Jersey. But orange didnt do him so well with the Mets… have to see if its the color or the bird
haha
Out injuried until September.
Yeah a great question. I would continue to use him as a closer truthfully.
Does it matter? Their still 3 starters, 2-3 bullpen arms and a couple everyday position players away from being as good as the 3rd place team in the east
Pretty silly statement. They don’t need any position players. The orioles need two SPs and do need BP arms But the latter will be very easy to resolve as there are an abundance of BP arms available. It’s just about money. The orioles averaged 97 wins per season before last year when they foolishly ignored SP. they won’t make the same mistake this season. 2 legit SPs and a remade bullpen should let them compete with any and every team in baseball (besides the dodgers).
The O’s offensive finished 23rd in offensive fWAR last season. The Yankees were 1st, the Jays 2nd, Boston was 10th and Tampa was 20th. If you don’t like advanced metrics they were 24th in runs scored. The O’s had a total of three hitters more productive than Jays’ bench bat Davis Schneider.
It’s a bottom third line of attack that has to compete with the best offensives in the game. I don’t get the narrative that the O’s lineup is stacked or even half-decent, And once you factor in defense it just gets uglier.
Outside of Gunnar who do they have that can match up against the other teams big guys in the east? Baltimore only really managed those seasons in my opinion because the east was weaker the last few years. Now the Yankees are who they’ve always been, Red Sox are trying hard to get back to winning in playoffs and Toronto wants to get back to the series. I’m sure I’ll be wrong but Baltimore looks like a 4th place team right now by 5-10 games. Plenty can change between now and game 1 of regular season but the 2 front of the rotation starters that Baltimore desperately needs don’t grow on trees
The numbers heavily skewd by the fact the team was sporting 5-6 AA-AAA talent level players in the first two months due to a massive amount of injuries.
They will need a position player free agent, if they do decide to trade one of their prospects for another starter, which is what they will probably do.
Mayo package I assume? Seems like he’s an odd one out as well since they have 4 options at first at the moment.
They chose to ignores available arms via trades the last few years & it didn’t make sense because they had plenty of young infielders. Cease, Alcantara, Castillo (when with the Reds) Crochet, Sale. They obviously LOVED their prospects; but keeping them all has come at a cost.
Danumd – just no. O’s offense has been garbage since July 2024
Truth. Preach.
Just glad he won’t be a starter on Detroit. He belongs in a pen.
Yeah, I never understood that plan.
I had to going to the Orioles for 2/29. I guess I’ll count it.
0 people had that prediction on their free agent tracker
He’ll be happy to get out of New York, anyway.
New York is happy to see him leave! He was an arsonist for the Mets.
Helsley was fine for 2021-2025…until he went to the Mets. Some guys just can’t handle the Big Apple, and I’m not talking about the one behind the center field fence.
Actually, he wasn’t fine for 2021. But 2022-2025 was more than decent…until he went to New York.
@CaseyAbell Helsley was way off his 2022-2024 numbers in 2025 with St. Louis. Look at his peripheral stats there: Lousy for a closer, and a significant decline over the previous three years.
The Orioles may well be getting a pig in a poke.
Casey – To be in Baltimore? Seriously? So he’d rather be murdered than booed?
We all keep forgetting how NY has eliminated crime.
Nuh uh. Helsley was criminal as a set up man.
@stymeedone,
Nicely done, sir.
We all keep forgetting how NY has eliminated crime.
=======================
The murder rate in BA is about 9x as high as NYC.
I think I’ve gotten my head around where this discussion is going. So, murder isn’t the problem, it’s lots of murder that’s the problem.
I wonder what prevents the city from getting crime under control?
Generational poverty with no end in sight, along with generations of corrupt law enforcement and local officials. Also, I wouldn’t describe it as out of control. There are good areas and bad areas. Pretty similar to any major city.
The crime is under control. So tired of this narrative. The vast majority of Bmore is perfectly safe.
Dodgerbleu
Oh come on. Baltimore is fine bc it’s so clearly defined.
============================
Back in the olde days, before Rudy and Bloomberg took over, if you stood on the corner of 5th Avenue and Central Park North, in about a span of 50 feet, you could go from uninhabitable buildings to million dollar apartments.
OTOH, those buildings probably start at $2M++ now, but still.
Boggs-numbers are fudged. Baltimore has never recovered from the 2015 riots and crime worse now than the 1988-91 period which inspired Homicide and The Wire…with less people living there. Source: high level city law enforcement. No, can’t disclose name.
Moore is bankrupting the entire state too which won’t help.
Thornton – Lol no. I can tell from the tilt in your comment that you’re in favor of fascist conservatism. Nothing you said is true.
I can tell from the tilt in your comment that you’re in favor of fascist conservatism.
================================
Lowering the murder rate doesn’t equate to fascism. In NYC, Rudy started the job by using Stop-and-Frisk. I question its legality, but it is effective in keeping kids from bring their toys out with them. And fascist Bloomberg continued with the policy until he decided it wasn’t going to mesh well with a POTUS run.
In addition, Rudy cleared out the West Side, which brought in thousands of jobs. Bloomberg, to his credit, improved the economy even further.
I’ll even give credit to the 3rd fascist, David Dinkins. He was the one who initially fought for the funding of an additional 8,000 police officers.
MoOrE iS bAnKrUpTiNg tHe sTaTe
huh? you obviously don’t live here.
Democratic politicians over and over. Stealing money from their programs. Different face, same politician.
DP smith – wait til you hear about the GOP’s grifting, that’ll really astound you
It’s a very complex subject. Especially in terms of free agency apparently. Or even MLB trade rumors in general.
I’m still trying to figure out the connection.
my source is the same that knew O’Malley was fudging the #’s too, later discovered. All in time. Have fun in never never land, which includes a mute from me. Congrats!
lowenstein – don’t worry, those in Baltimore who are in trouble and don’t want police will surely be saved by the social workers.
Such stupid commentary. Thanks for the laugh.
Thanks. I feel fulfilled now that you graced me with a reply
Haven’t been able to find crime stats on Baseball Reference. What are we talking about? It is extremely rare that professional athletes are the victims of violent crime. They can afford to live in the best neighborhoods and have access to security. And on the rare occasions when it does occur — like the recent shooting of Kris Boyd — it has no impact on players choosing a particular team (there are far better reasons to avoid playing for the Jets than the NYC crime rate).
Well you’re gonna be in East Rutherford NJ so you really shouldn’t be worrying about NYC crime at all as a Jet! Just live in Hoboken!
All of that is a complex subject
=======================
It never seemed that complex to me.
Bringing down crime encourages business. Some, certainly not all, of the Far Left howled like coyotes when Rudy saturated the west side of Midtown Manhattan with police (that Dinkins-D helped bring in). It started with Disney and every big name followed.
More jobs required more livable space, meaning gentrification. Once upon a time, you couldn’t drive thru the Bowery for fear of your life. Now you can’t drive there for fear of a million pedestrians partying down there.
Dinkins police + Rudy’s iron fist + Bloomberg’s economy.
it’s not a party thing-it is an idea thing.
They get their new Closer I think
Passan says he’ll be closing. Makes sense. The noise about converting him to a starter always seemed phony. At least the Orioles are trying to do something about their pitching. They still need rotation help, though.
Another cheap move by a team that’s big market or close enough to be running $200m payrolls.
Doesn’t matter if they got for him cheap or not what matters does he get guys or not . The team paying a ton for a guy means nothing if he doesn’t get the job done
I’m not sure I’d call $14M for a closer ‘cheap’, and I expect him to do a good job.
Jack – Baltimore is not big market by any means. Mid market at best.
..wasn’t on my bingo card
Who would’ve thought the o’s would spend and outbid the dodgers
What exactly indicates the Dodgers were ever interested in Helsley?
“The Dodgers are in on everybody.”
Known fact.
Exactly they are willing to pay closers just to have them like 5th on the depth chart
Just look at how many former closers and all stars they had on the 2025 roster
In other words you have no idea if LAD had or has any interest in Helsley.
Will Klein enters the chat …
Interesting, I guess they were serious about bringing in another dude with 9th inning experience.
And another L for me. 2/8 now. I had him going to the Braves.
I had him going to the giants…
Good move …if his Mets’ experience isn’t the new norm. I had him going to the Cubs.
mlbtraderumors.com/mlb-free-agent-prediction-conte…
Maybe he just needs a bird on his jersey to play well?
The Braves are probably the last team he’d ever play for. Look it up.
It ain’t that deep for me.
Ok, but picking them as hus landing spot was an instant L
Instant L if you know the issue, but I’m not about to look up every players history with every team when doing this. I’m sure most people aren’t either.
I agree, there are probably quite a few i dont know as well. But whoever wins this will be the guys that know this stuff for every player.
I always forget Helsey was the Tomahawk chop guy. I was at that game 5 and amazed the Braves bent the knee and didn’t give out the foam tomahawks. This one guy managed to take the air of the entire stadium…Cancel Culture was rampant around that time smh.
I was hopeful the orioles would get Devin Williams. This is an L for me too
I sure wish everyone would report how they are doing in the contest every signing, just like you. Can you tell us all about your fantasy teams next?
Don’t read it then stymee
If that is targeted at me, stymee, in response to requests elsewhere, I will continue to keep posting on each new Free Agent signing, including a link to the standings, until Tim and the guys put up their link.
Govern yourself accordingly. 😉
Tbh I’d very interested to see how others are doing so yeah I do wish they would. Because you what? It’s fun. So us fantasy and I do like to talk about that as well from time to time. Lighten up. 😉
stymeedone
I sure wish everyone would report how they are doing in the contest
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I have 4. Thank you asking. But rough year for my fantasy teams. Gore, Suzuki, Wood, Tatis and a couple of others just disappeared for about two months in the second half.
Here we go, keep the moves coming.
Lfg. Another opt out deal but whatever. Keep it moving Elias.
If he’s back to being awesome, he could opt out but get the QO I believe. Then he can decide to come back at $22MM or whatever or walk and O’s could get a pick. Nightmare would be a bad year or injury and they’re stuck with him in 2027.
i cant see any team truly giving a reliever a 1 yr QO unless you expect them to get a multi year deal with you or another team. The highest AAV dollar ever given to reliever belongs to Diaz and he barely made it over 20M. So this would be the highest deal ever given to a closer.
Yeah but you can’t look at AAV. It’s total dollar. If Helsley pitches well or even great next season, he could position himself for something like 4 years/ $60MM in FA. Even though that’s $15MM AAV, it’s better than 1 year QO at $23MM
Josh Hader got 95 million
QO is 1 yr deal right?
if no AAV has ever hit 20.5 AAV {which if you divide something by 1 its average is the same for example 22M / 1 makes the QO an AAV of 22M). why would the team do that “unless you expect them to get a multi year deal with you or another team.”
If he can repeat his best season which he only had one other really good season other than his career season in 2024. Maybe he gets there and i do wish him well to get there. So “unless you expect them to get a multi year deal with you or another team.” i cant see a team offering him a true QO as a reliever especially not an elite closer in the illk of diaz or hader.
QO is 1 year
You say that like there’s going to be a 2027 season.
Iglesias got $16M. The ‘good’ Helsley might be worth $6M more.
But the more important part is if you think Helsley will accept. Williams ($68M/4) and Suarez ($48M/3) but 2+ years older, are good salary comps. If Helsely has a decent year, I assume he would reject a QO.
Opt outs are a win win imo. Teams don’t usually want the back end years of a deal anyway. Players who performed at or above expectations get an extra opportunity for a big contract. If a player underperforms the team is stuck with them whether they gave the player an opt out or not. So give them away like candy and hope the player uses it after a great season
If thats what 14M AAV gets on this market, I hope the Mariners stay away from notable free agent relievers.
Early deals are higher in value to the player, because there is extra value to the team in getting some of their shopping done early, so they can devote resources to the harder transactions.
Keep in mind helsey is one of the best closers in the game when he is in his prime
Do you guys need an OF? Cowser for Kirby? Beavers for B. Miller?
Sloan, Anderson are the next top of the rotation arms pitching in the minors. The 4 home grown starters won’t be moved as the replacements aren’t ready. The only 3 starting pitchers I can see Seattle listing on is Logan Evans, Jurrangelo Cijntje, or Luis Castillo (2 years of control) . Those are all number 4/5 starters. The Mariners aren’t likely gonna move a high end starter.
Cowser is their main opt at cf. Beavers is a cheap on base machine for when O’Neil gets hurt and long shot backup cf. They aren’t going anywhere as cf options on market are garbage or overpriced.
Bradfield is a pure CF. He could easily have spent half the season in AAA except for an injury. They could easily deal Cowser, use Taveras in CF for a while and promote Bradfield mid season.
No Os OF player in untradable, except ONeil and Ward (for opposite reasons).
I’d trade Cowser if we could get a real return back. Doubt we can though. We’ll have to hope he can fix his approach. I doubt he will since he had huge chase issues in AAA. I think 2024 will go down as the clear outlier.
Hahaha no!
Do the Mariners need to play in the top tier of the relief market? Seems like they are starting from a good place and have done a decent job developing arms so could probably round it out fine without spending.
Mariners could use one high leverage 8th inning type guy; they are doing pretty well with the in-house candidates but one more high octane arm would be sublime. I guess we were very close to getting Joann Duran at the deadline but Phillies bested the offer and we weren’t able to counter offer. One more guy like that and the bullpen will be set.
I think Minnesota wanted someone like Ford or Emerson in a package for Duran, and the Mariners laughed and hung up, as they rightfully should. Good teams don’t stay good for long by dumping MLB-adjacent top prospects all willy-nilly.
They could use another leverage arm, preferably a left handed one (though anyone who can dominate the 6th-8th innings with Brash and Speier would be awesome), and they were in on a few of them at the deadline before settling on Ferguson. I wouldn’t mind if they raided the Rockies, they have some actually solid arms in their bullpen but clearly need damn near everything else before they can even sniff 70 wins, let alone compete with that bullpen.
$14M seems like a high AAV for a guy who had such a brutal end to the year. I thought he’d be in the single digits on a “prove-it” deal honestly.
Look at his 2022-2024 stretch of dominance and solid first half of 2025. There was no way he was only going to get one year and less than $10 million just because of a bad 2 months after a deadline trade.
I’m a Cardinals fan who watches every game, even in the team’s current state. He was a much different pitcher in 2025 who allowed many more baserunners, and by only having two pitches he really struggles when he has no feel for the slider, which was a lot this season. And even though his fastball is lively, he has often little control of it. Not good when hitters have eliminated the slider and sit on that. I’m not paying him for his 2022-24 seasons, I’m paying him for the pitcher he’ll be going forward.
“I’m paying him for the pitcher he’ll be going forward.”
And that’s what the O did. Otherwise he could have got north of $50m on a multi year deal
He was tipping his pitches, he’ll be fine. Saved 49 games in 2024, NL Reliever of the Year. 103 MPH heater. Welcome To Baltimore!!
I mentioned the tipping below, but I’m not so sure why Baltimore would be assumed to fix something St. Louis and New York both couldn’t.
It definitely didn’t seem like much of a problem for St.Luis.
everything was trending in the wrong direction even before the trade. At that point before the trade he had already given up more homeruns than the year before. (ERA yes not best example) but was higher, SO/BB rate went down WHIP was higher and FIP was trending in the wrong direction.
i do hope he turns it around as he seems like a fighter, but all those trends probably hurt him as well and not just the couple awful weeks with the mets.
@rickyism Can only be said by someone who hasn’t actually looked at his 2025 peripherals with St. Louis.
Balt has done similar on a number of reliver castaways that were lesser talent
@rickyism: It was definitely a problem in St Louis. 3.55 FIP and a 1.389 WHIP. It was more of a problem with the Mets, but he also had a .362 BABIP with the Mets despite reducing both his EV (90.9 with STL, 89.3 with the Mets; 89.4 for his career) and hard hit % (per BRef: 45.5 with STL, 35.5 with the Mets; 39.8 career).
Hope he figures it out, but there’s risk here. He was having majors issues with his fastball and in several appearances down the stretch with the Mets, he almost completely abandoned it and threw sliders.
Had him going to the Tigers..
For St. Louis he was an Elite closer in ’24 then a Great Closer in ’25.
Crappy Set Up Man for the NYM for 2 months.
Honestly even for St. Louis in 2025, he was much more hittable than he usually was in the years prior. He was making most saves very interesting for a while leading up to the deadline. A lot of baserunners. Might have been tipping pitches though.
He WAS tipping pitches. Got better the last few weeks
He wasn’t pitching on consecutive days normally for St Louis. When he did he would have problems, I think I heard it was blisters. Mets pitched him on consecutive days often.
LOL Orioles! You’ll regret this one.
Eh, can’t be worse than Kimbrel signing unless he gets hurt. Absolutely better than nothing.
I also didn’t consider shower injuries, and horrific street rat attacks.
I would edit to “perform worse”. in order to oblige you but alas it is too late
You’re laughing? What team spends $500 million or whatever and misses playoffs. Everyone is laughing at you.
He was near the top of my list of free agent closer candidates to replace Bautista next year, so no complaints here. Still averages 99+ mph on the heater and the opt out gives him some extra motivation. Good bounceback candidate.
Another to-do list item checked off very quickly. Good job Mike.
I’m sure Mets fans are glad he’s gone. That’s a lot of money for him. I wonder what Weaver will get
He was a total monster from 2022-2024 and his fastball velo is still super elite, so I don’t think it’s a crazy gamble.
Weaver doesn’t have close to the track record of Helsley. He has 12 career saves (4 more in the post season). And he lost the closer job.this season. If you think $14 million is a lot for a 31 year old Helsley, consider that the Sox just re-signed a 38 year old Chapman for $13.3 million and the Braves just re-signed a 36 year old Iglesias for $16 million, Robert Suarez, Edwin Diaz and Devyn Williams are all going to go for more than $14 million and anyone going for less than that (e.g. Finnegan, Pagan, Jansen) have somewhat more risk.
People will say anything to fit a narrative. Mets are good with spending ludicrous amounts of money that often end up being bad contracts (Marte, McCann, Nimmo, Montas, eventually Soto, etc) but when a good pitcher with a good track record signs for $28m with another team, then it’s too much money. Please
Except for the fact that he’s terrible and wilts whenever there is pressure. This is a dumb signing
This money looks like starter money it’s similar to the Clay Holmes deal
$14 million is not starter money any more.
2025 selected reliever free agent signing AAVs
Tanner Scott $18 million
Carlos Estevez $11.1 million
David Robertson $16 million
Kenley Jansen $10 million
Jose Leclerc $10 million
Blake Treinen $11 million
Kirby Yates $13 million
2025 selected starter free agent signing AAVs
Nick Martinez $21.5 million
Nathan Eovaldi $25 million
Walker Buehler $21 million
Jack Flaherty $17.5 million
Frankie Montas $25 million
Yusei Kikuchi $21.2 million
Luis Severino $22.3 million
Not to mention the elite starters (Fried $27.2 million, 8 years; Burnes $35 million, 6 years; Snell $36.4 million, 5 years).
Inflation isn’t just at the supermarket.
Helsley was probably a 4/80MM before the season. He was probably at least a 3/55MM arm before his rough stretch with the Mets.
This “opt out” crap is too much.
Players with leverage won’t sign without those.
This is a rare case where I like a player opt out for the team. Baltimore has a closer for 2027 in Felix Bautista. If Helsley pitches well in 2026 and opts out, no worries.
Wonder what happens to Bautista now. Doesn’t help Bautista that he’s missed 2024 and will miss most of 2026 due to injury.
That’s a problem you deal with if he is able to return to form. This way there’s less pressure on both the player and the team. If Felix returns to form he’s probably the closer and Helsley either accepts his new role or opts out.
Felix will probably need some time once he returns anyway. May not slide into the closer role right away.
If he comes back in August, that will best back end bullpen in baseball. What a problem to have.
Baltimore siempre haciendo malas firmas.
@Raul, I think this is a low risk high reward deal. $14MM/ is relatively cheap for a high leverage reliever now. If he gets close to his previous levels of success, this is an absolute steal.
I don’t think there’s any low risk deal for a closer. A team only has one of them. If he’s doing the job, it’s a good deal. But the risk that he doesn’t is huge as you likely don’t have anyone to replace him. And $14 million (with a guaranty of $14 million for 2027 even if he’s terrible) is in no way a steal. None of the closers are going for more than $20 million AAV except maybe Diaz. Given that there are fair question marks about Helsley given his second half performance, $14 million is a reasonable discount from what he would have been paid had he finished the year well. Iglesias ($16 million) and Chapman ($13 million) got similar deals and no second year guaranty. Elias paid market value, perhaps a little more given the second year with opt-out. .
El mercado de relevista está. Muy caro. Esa era una de sus mejores opciones. Y 2 años no está mal. El principal problema es que esa división es muy difícil.
Like the deal. Need another set up man or 2 and the bullpen will be done.
Yikes. He was absolutely brutal with the Mets… talk about failing upward… 🤦♂️
Most reasonable people realize that two months does not outweigh an entire career.
I would agree with you if it was 2 weeks… but he couldn’t get anyone out for 2 months. You can fool yourself into believing that he’s got no issues if you want, but just don’t be surprised if it’s a very bumpy ride.
He allowed 53 baserunners in 36 IP for the Cardinals this year.
Right. And he allowed 32 of those in 56 IP this year, which arguably makes him look worse than his WHIP. Good stuff!
Yeah. I completely disagree with Websoulsurfer.
2 strong months in Queens would’ve earned him much more than this. He still got paid based on his talent and I’m a fan of getting him at a potential discount here.
Baltimore, and a physical? Maybe hold off from putting this in ink yet…
Ok, now a couple of moves by the Rays and the Yanks are the fifth place team in the AL East.
I see a few people on here saying that’s too much money for a closer. Have they not been paying attention to what closers have been making these days? Great move for Baltimore to check off one of their off season needs.
Yeah, Joe, what a concept, eh? 😁
Lot of money for a guy who just went 2 months without being able to get the 9 hitter out in the 6th inning during mop up duty.
Love that one.
rendon played for a week every few years, in exchange for $245 mil
montas got $34 mil for free from steve cohen
cease got $210 mil after putting up #4 starter #s
helsey put up 7.20 era for mets, gets $28 mil as a reward from O’s
i shoulda been a ballplayer. all you do is pretend you know what to do with a baseball. get tons of millions
English teacher certainly wasn’t an option for you.
Why do they still call it an opt out when it comes just one year before the end of the contract? Just call it a one year contract with a player option.
you can call it by either name.
Technically, yes, but it affects how long the contract is said to be. In this case, it’s more accurate to call it a one-year contract (with a player option) rather than a two-year contract (with an opt-out).
Agreed. If there is an opt out, it’s a one year deal.
Good signing!!
Wasserman is a really really good agent!
Good get for the Orioles. Keep the line moving and lengthen the lineup further! Still onboard with trying to trade for Corey Seagar and moving either him or Gunnar to 3rd. Holiday and a prospect for Seagar and kick Westy to 2b. It won’t happen but Cody Bellinger would be a really good get as well to split time between CF and 1b. With Elias picking up Mounty’s final year it seems like the writing could be on the wall for both Mayo and Kjerstad. Really wish they could just dump O’Neill in a bad contract swap since they have the same player in Taylor Ward now.
O’Neil hits lefties
Hard to hit lefties when youre hurt
Gee, not even December and you’re already giving up and whining. Does it really matter what order they address their needs?
Starters don’t mean much anymore. I’d be surprised if starters go more than 4 innings soon. Live and die by your middle and end relievers. Welcome to the new age.
He enraged me as a fan but I do hope he figures it out. I wanted him to be successful so bad.
Nice! Now the O’s just need five starting pitchers and they’ll have a chance.
Why would we need 5 starters when we already have Kyle Bradish, Trevor Rogers, and Dean Kremer? Are you proposing that the Orioles adopt an 8 man rotation?
lol k
And wells. They need one to push povich back to aaa
shosho
Who? Those guys are swingmen
====================
This is why people shouldn’t come home drunk and post on websites. How embarrassed will Shosho be when he wakes up and reads this?
How little you must pay attention to recent history, Floch.
Do you really want to hang your hat on Kyle Bradish who has started all of 14 games in the last two seasons or Trevor Rogers, who has never thrown over 133 innings in any season of his career?
Combined, Bradish, Rogers, and Kremer made 53 starts in 2025. Even if those 3 can get lucky and replicate that number again in 2026, there’s still a lot of starts and innings needed from starting pitchers if the O’s hope to have success.
Rogers spent months in AAA and Bradish was out most of the year. “Get lucky for 53 starts”
53 starts from 4 pitchers is ludicrously low. I’ll bet any amount of money you like that the over hits on that by at least 20 starts.
Learn to count.
For everyone dumping on Helsley for his struggles with the Mets don’t forget Cedric Mullins crapped out with the Mets too. In fact, outside of Soto, Lindor, and Alonso most of the roster had down seasons in Queens last year.
Helsley can still throw gas, if the O’s coaching staff can fix his delivery so he isn’t tipping his pitches and he reverts back to 2024 form the Orioles got a heckuva deal
An in-character not good enough move. Attempting to find value shopping in the Clearance aisle while some of the teams they compete with will go all-in. Jays 7 yrs 210M. Os 2 yrs 28M. Or 1 yr 14M. Maybe he will be worth more than 14 or 28M. I dont think so. Last year and the <1 WAR was quite unimpressive.
But even if he is worth it, this just does not look like the move of a team trying to compete with the Blue Jays Yankees and Red Sox. Maybe the Rays. Feels like his ceiling is a bit above average.
He checks a box but its checking the box to fill a roster that should not compete to win a division. I'm not sure that trading for Peralta and Joe Ryan and signing Bo Bichette would even get them higher than third place. Outside of one SP that was a surprise huge success for close to half a season, it was a pretty underwhelming disappointing performance by most of the other players.
Sometimes it seems like there is an assumption that the players and team will return to 2023/24 form but the guys got worse. Last year counts. Cant bank on them being different than who they were in 25.
The previous year’s last-place finish counted for the Blue Jays and they did just fine in 2025. Meanwhile, the hot stove has a long way to go before any of these teams are set for the ’26 season.
Helsley’s ceiling is obviously what he has already been, a legitimate All-Star closer. That’s easily more than just “a bit above average.”
It’s possible he has started his decline at 31, but it’s also quite possible that he’s still just as good as he was before, which in baseball terms is his ceiling.
So all the injuries didn’t impact the lineup at all or would continue in 2026? That’s as shortsighted as people last year underrating vlad jr.
Carcass Melancholy
He checks a box but its checking the box
========================
Here are your choices:
1-Go in-house or outside for a closer. What do you choose?
2-After you answer Q1, let us know the specific name you have in mind.
As far as I can see, you need a closer and Helsley looks like a solid candidate. For all your complaints, you spent -0- time discussing your preferred alternative(s).
Carcass Melancholy
signing Bo Bichette would even get them higher than third place.
=======================
What does Bichette do for you? There is a -0- chance of you displacing Holliday and Henderson. So you’re thinking Bichette for 3rd?
1) outside 2) Edwin Diaz. I shouldn’t have mentioned Bo Bichette. Replace him with Tucker as just a hypothetical example of an add. An impact bat that would make a difference.
My main point with the example of if they could add three big names is I would not bank on that making them an expected first place or playoff team. I am a big fan but I am concerned this team could be a little more broken than other fans want to admit.
Think it gets complicated with having personnel and expecting this amount of production. They just looked as flat as flat gets most of last year. Sometimes the great talent underachieves and lesser talent overachieves. May have been some chemistry issues. Not sure why Adley looks less like a leader and performer now. Gunnar has bad body language and is telling people he wants to play for a team with a winning culture while he is part of the reason they did not win last year. In that sense maybe a lot of new faces could help shake up the chemistry.
With the closer situation, I am hearing a lot of he WAS a great closer. He could be again. I just dont understand why you would pick THAT type of guy. I dont understand why you wouldn’t just pick a guy who looked a lot more impressive last year and instills more confidence. Its November. Why lock up the guy who MIGHT return to his old form. The same as if you are prioritizing pitching performance, if you have a choice between Joe Ryan or Gallen, Joe Ryan because why not pick the guy who has been doing well most recently and has less question marks. Think there are still plenty of nice options at closer at this stage of the game.
So, Jeb offers $22 M to Shoto, a 5 maybe…has to prove himself, but not 14 M to Ryan…a proven closer…oh. lets discuss Fairbanks or Williams…thats right its just lets discuss, not that serious.
It’s possible the Cubs offered him a contract and he preferred to sign with Baltimore instead. Just because your GM doesn’t sign a guy doesn’t mean they didn’t try to.
Alone maybe not great but with Kittredge its great for the backend of the bullpen. I love Kittredge in an Os uniform
Kittredge and Helsley pitched at the back end of a bullpen together in 2024 too.
another stupid opt out deal
So, iglesias and Helsleu off the board. Tigers need to forget about Boras clients and move quickly on a closer.
Nice. Hope it works out.
If fortune is on the O’s side this could set up a Bautista/Helsley back end tandem for the stretch run and post season.
Counting on Bautista to give you anything this year would be a gigantic mistake.
Even if he could get back on the mound by then—I can’t imagine he’ll look like a top flight reliever. I’m not sure he’s ever getting back to that unfortunately.
He’s a lotto ticket for 2027.
Good deal for Os considering that 2025 was not a great year for Helsley. But I wonder why they didn’t get one of the top 3 guys. Hopefully this means a #1 starter or 2 are coming to town….plus Kyle Tucker!!!!!????
8/50 of the top free agents have been signed and we’re boohooing already.
There’s next to no chance the team is worse. If you asked me if we’d be spending another $24MM on the bullpen this offseason—my answer was easily yes.
2 backend relievers were necessary. I think another one could be added. Might be at the deadline.
I’ll believe it when he passes the physical.
A big arm for the bullpen. Need more plus a starter. Name one closer on the market who hasn’t had problems. Good sign.
I think this is a pretty good move. Orioles could use a solid closer.
They need an ace and a #4 starter. They have a solid #2 and #3 in Bradish and Rogers (assuming they can stay healthy) and a #5 in Kremer.
Trust me. Bradish is an Ace!!!
And wells
I like Wells but he showed pretty significant durability issues a couple seasons back
Could they still sign someone like Framber Valdez?
Absolutely
He wasn’t lights out for the Cards last year and he was brutal for the Mets. Yes, he throws hard, but he was very hittable. I don’t know if he was or wasn’t tipping his pitches, I didn’t watch him closely enough, because quite honestly, I couldn’t stand watching him pitch terribly for the Mets. My gut tells me that the Orioles just pissed away $28 million, but what do I know? It just seems like a stupid amount of money for someone who didn’t have a great year.
Unless he pitches awful or gets hurt he will earn some portion of the 28m. If he pitches like he did with the cards last year he will earn majority of it.
Yeap, very good! Keep it up Elias.
If I were an Orioles fan I like the idea of obtaining both Kittredge and Helsley. I think Helsley will bounce back well and Andrew is great at holding leads.
D Good not great reliever who’s been trending down. Maybe they can make him better. If so don’t give him a opt out. No reason to jump on this contract in November. Better ways to spend $.
Your definition of mediocre is quite a bit different than mine.
Helsley has been an excellent closer for the last 4 years save for the last 2 months in New York.
Kittredge has been an excellent setup man for 6 straight years (and his peripherals were still good the 7th year back).
LET’S GO O’S!
With their signing of Helmsley, the Os could be moving on up on the East side of the AL
Helsley had a Ruf time in Flushing.
Because you taught him how to spell?
I got this one wrong, had him going to the Giants. This is a good move for the Orioles, Bautista is going to miss a good chunk of the season so this answers the closer role.
Or as Elias eloquently notes ninth inning guy
Solid signing for a team needing a closer. Kudos to the Birds brain trust.
The Birds brain trust are bird brains.
I’m glad the Tigers aren’t looking at him as a starter !
Overpay.
Love these opt outs…if I suck you pay me $28m.
If he’s the 9th inning guy, better start looking for a tenth.
That was a real knee slapper
There goes all those Tigers rumors.
Well, its an Oriole deal. Not spending for the top end of the market. Has a chance of really working out or blowing up in their faces. I feel better about their ability to compose an effective bullpen than anything else.
Still need 2 bona fide starters.
I said it on Fangraphs and I will say it again here. The price of pitching has gotten insane! I can easily see Cease being Chris Archer, after he went to the Pirates, and never could have imagined anything close to the contract he received. Now Helsley, who, quite honestly, set the modern standard for ineffectiveness while, single-handedly, destroying the Mets chance to reach the post-season, gets $28M from the Orioles. It is just crazy!
he “singlehandedly” destroyed the Mets chance of the post season?
he was def a part of the problem but singlehandedly is a bit of an exaggerated narrative.
that was a mess of many people’s making.
When you begin the sentence with “and,” it shouldn’t have a comma after it.