Cardinals Closer Ryan Helsley Vocal About Comments Made In Arbitration Process

St. Louis brought up their closer's postseason woes just to save a few bucks

Scott Neville | Mar 29, 2023

Cardinals Closer Ryan Helsley Vocal About Comments Made In Arbitration Process /

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St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals are known for their high prestige in Major League Baseball.

They are one of the most consistent performers in the league, one of the original teams and seem to always develop stars from within. While most franchises would aspire to be like the Cardinals -- St. Louis might have gone a bridge too far when facing off against their closer in arbitration.

Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley asked for $3 million in arbitration this winter after a phenomenal season but did not get his wish. Instead, the arbiters sided with St. Louis, who countered with $2.15 million.

Helsley went 9-1 with 19 saves in 23 opportunities, an incredible 1.25 ERA, 94-to-20 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .128 batting average against and 0.74 WHIP in 64 2/3 innings last season.

Yet the Cardinals decided to lowball the right-hander and risk tarnishing their relationship over less than a million dollars.

How did they do it? Helsley gave some insight into the hearing.

"It's pretty crazy how your employers talk bad about you and then right after they want to be best friends," Helsley said on Foul Territory -- a YouTube show hosted by former players and well-known media pundits.

"I felt like I did some pretty good things last year, and they still find ways to tell you, you stink so that's kind of tough to hear sometimes," Helsley said.

A month prior the 28-year-old told MLB.com's John Denton that St. Louis even stooped as low as to bring up his blowup against the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 1 of the National League Wild Card Series when he allowed four earned runs -- a game in which he was pitching with an injury to his middle finger.

Helsley has no issue being blunt about how bad the arbitration process is for players but he appears to have no issue with the organization as he understands the business aspect of it all.

Still, the Cardinals could have done both sides a favor and just paid the man a fraction of what he deserves -- which is all he asked for in the first place.

More MLB: Introducing FanNation's Inside The Cardinals: Sports Illustrated's Newest Page

Published Mar 29, 2023

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the St. Louis Cardinals for FanNation's "Inside The Cardinals" on Sports Illustrated. Before starting "Inside The Cardinals", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." After a few months as the top Major League Baseball site in the program, Neville sought expansion and pitched "Inside The Cardinals," one of the newest additions to FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group. The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Cardinals" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu