This Proposed Baltimore Orioles Trade With Cardinals Features Steep Cost

The Baltimore Orioles were part of a proposed trade for pitching help, but is the price too high for the O's to pay?

Sep 27, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Ryan Helsley (56) reacts to getting the final out against the San Francisco Giants during the ninth inning at Oracle Park. / D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

The Baltimore Orioles clearly need to address their bullpen this offseason, but how much should they be willing to part with to do so?

There are some intriguing elite relievers on the free agent market, while others may be available on the trade block.

For instance, if the St. Louis Cardinals are willing to accept calls about Ryan Helsley, the Orioles should make a call. They just have to be sure not to overpay to sign him.

Acquiring Helsley was proposed as a recent trade idea from Curt Bishop of FanSided. The proposed deal felt, well, one-sided? Perhaps too steep for Baltimore to entertain?

The trade would see the Cardinals send over Helsley in exchange for two highly-regarded Orioles prospects — catcher Samuel Basallo and pitcher Chayce McDermott.

Now, Helsley is an elite closer and he would immediately emerge as a perfect complement to returning closer Felix Bautista in the Baltimore bullpen. Bautista missed all of last season after Tommy John surgery.

The 29-year-old St. Louis reliever led MLB this season with 49 saves, including a 2.04 ERA and a 1.101 WHIP.

Since the start of his breakout season in 2022, he has been selected to two All-Star games and has an ERA of 1.83. His WHIP is down to 0.954 and he has a strikeout rate of 12.1 per nine innings.

The Orioles would be getting two years of elite relief, as Helsley is under contract through 2026. But is it worth giving up two very promising prospects?

That's a lot to give up when Baltimore already has Bautista, who is expected to be ready for Opening Day and was the 2023 Mariano Rivera reliever of the year in the AL in spite of missing the final six weeks of that season due to his injury.

Basallo took a minor step back from his .313 batting average in his first full minor-league season in 2023. But he still has a bat with great potential. The 20-year-old is one of the top prospects in all of baseball and is cross-training at first base to be a more versatile option.

In 2024 he finished with a slash line of .278/.341/.449 with 19 home runs and 65 RBI in 127 games. He has also earned a promotion to Triple-A.

McDermott isn't as highly regarded of a prospect, but is arm is worth keeping around and he finally made it to the MLB level last season.

Flipping Basallo and McDermott now, when both are poised to help in the Majors, doesn't make much sense, even for a player like Helsley.