Cubs Reportedly Interested In Reliever Ryan Helsley

[Brock Beauchamp]

Reporting for The Athletic, Patrick Mooney reported that the Cubs are interested in right-handed reliever Ryan Helsley, formerly of the Mets. Across seven MLB seasons, Helsley has worked 319 2/3 innings with a 2.96 ERA and a 3.17 FIP, striking out 10.6 batters per nine innings with 3.7 walks per nine and allowing 0.84 home runs per nine. He has 105 career saves and 6.0 WAR.

Helsley’s peak came in a three-year run from 2022 through 2024. In that span, his ERA and FIP were under 3.00, and he ranked among the top relievers in WAR, ERA, strikeout rate, and WHIP for pitchers with at least 200 innings. He was an All-Star in 2022 and 2024 and in 2024 led the majors with 49 saves while posting a 2.04 ERA with 79 strikeouts and 23 walks in 66 1/3 innings, winning the National League Reliever of the Year Award and making the All-MLB First Team. 

In 2025, Helsley opened as St. Louis’s closer, converting 21 of 26 save chances before being traded to the Mets at the deadline.  He threw 56 innings between the two clubs with a 4.50 ERA and a 3.89 FIP, with 10.1 strikeouts and 4.0 walks per nine.  His two-month stint with New York included a 7.20 ERA over 20 innings, with 25 hits and 11 walks allowed, and four home runs allowed.  

Helsley’s four-seam fastball still averaged 99.3 miles per hour in 2025.

The Cubs, who have already agreed to a two-year contract with Phil Maton, are now among the clubs showing interest in Helsley as they explore ways to add another late-inning option. What do you think, is Helsley a good complement to Maton?

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[Derwood]

So why the blow up in New York?

[Bertz]

42 minutes ago, Derwood said:

So why the blow up in New York?

He was tipping pitches

https://www.mlb.com/news/ryan-helsley-addresses-recent-pitch-tipping-issues

He had a 14.90 (!!!) ERA from 8/10 to 9/10, and outside of that stretch had a 2.33.  I hate the "except for when he was bad he was good" thing but there's some clear cause and effect here.

I'll be curious to see what Helsely gets.  In my mind it's like Devin Williams and you ignore the ERA and give him Tanner Scott money.  But the MLBTR's of the world have him in the same brakcet as Brad Keller, which feels like a bargain opportunity.

[CubinNY]

Not the best analogy, but I'm thrilled the Cubs are building the barn gate after the horses got out.

Edited November 26, 2025 by CubinNY

[Dfan25]

Since there is no rumor thread anymore , I didn’t know where to put this , and it has nothing to do with Ryan Helsley 😂. 
 

Anyway have no idea if this account is reliable , but saw this :

 

 

 

[Bertz]

Listened to Sharma and Mooney's latest podcast and this definitely feels like this has legs and is not just a "they're checking in on every reliever" thing.

[KCCub]

2 hours ago, Bertz said:

Listened to Sharma and Mooney's latest podcast and this definitely feels like this has legs and is not just a "they're checking in on every reliever" thing.

Interesting. I didn't think we would have a shot on Helsley after Rosenthal reported the Tigers and others are looking at him as a possible starter. (I don't actually believe a team is going to experiment with stretching him out, just assumed there was enough chatter out there to where he likely would be out of our price range)

[Tryptamine]

Man, they aren't going to invest anything into the offense. I wonder if we're even going to get bench bats.

[Rcal10]

3 hours ago, CubinNY said:

Not the best analogy, but I'm thrilled the Cubs are building the barn gate after the horses got out.

Exactly what horses got out regarding the pen last year? They didn’t sign any large annual deals but the pen was pretty damn good. I would rather they spend a few $ on dependable guys, like they appear to be doing. But they did a great job last year with putting a pen together. 

[Bertz]

1 hour ago, KCCub said:

Interesting. I didn't think we would have a shot on Helsley after Rosenthal reported the Tigers and others are looking at him as a possible starter. (I don't actually believe a team is going to experiment with stretching him out, just assumed there was enough chatter out there to where he likely would be out of our price range)

The fact that there's been a weirdly high amount of Helsley buzz from multiple places makes me think he's about ready to sign and is kicking up noise to make sure he's not leaving any money on the table.

[Bull]

1 hour ago, Tryptamine said:

Man, they aren't going to invest anything into the offense. I wonder if we're even going to get bench bats.

Right now, I sincerely hope the plan is for every cent available to be invested in high end pitching. At least in open conversation.  You have to keep the leverage.

I really think our margin for improvement is almost all on the pitching side. 

I think Alcantara, Caissie, Ballesteros and Long combine for 3 war next year. With Amaya back, where do you play them if you add a bat?

If trades fall in to your lap that you love, and two or more of them are traded for pitching, then you go get a bat. Until then, your potential trade partners need to believe (and you need to sincerely believe internally - willing to walk away from bad trades) that you are perfectly happy entering the season with these bats on your roster and your pitching needs filled in free agency. 

Edited November 26, 2025 by Bull

[Stratos]

20 minutes ago, Bertz said:

The fact that there's been a weirdly high amount of Helsley buzz from multiple places makes me think he's about ready to sign and is kicking up noise to make sure he's not leaving any money on the table.

Good observation.  It could be legit but "teams interested in him as a starter" could be his agent blowing smoke to try to increase leverage during a negotiation.

I like him in the short term but hesitant to go over 2 years.  Velo started dropping last year which makes sense with the age so he seems like a guy starting to trend down. K rate has already dropped significantly from a few years ago.  His walk rate is below average so if the K/9 ever drops squarely into the 9's he could be just an average to above-average reliever.

Edit: looks like the Tigers have been connected as interested in him being a starter.  Such a specific reference seems less likely to be smoke.

Edited November 26, 2025 by Stratos

[Derwood]

[chibears55]

11 minutes ago, Derwood said:

28 mil for 2 yrs was too much for Hoyer

🙄🙄

[We Got The Whole 9]

5 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

28 mil for 2 yrs was too much for Hoyer

🙄🙄

The guy got 2 of the best relievers in the market last year for less than half of that.

[Bertz]

I would guess it wasn't the money it was the opt out after 1.  Despite all the conspiracy theories about the CBA the team doesn't want the entire roster to turn over next offseason.

These things tend to come in waves, so I wouldn't be surprised if a handful of the other highly comparable guys (Keller, Fairbanks, Weaver) sign in the next day or two.  We know Jed's working in this tier this winter.

[Neuby]

Raisel Iglesias got $16M , Heasley 14M.  Williams or Jensen are my Hoyer targets.

[Rcal10]

45 minutes ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

The guy got 2 of the best relievers in the market last year for less than half of that.

He did. But I would rather not count on that. I would like to get a good one and pay some money for him instead of dumpster diving and hoping. Don’t get me wrong, he does a pretty good job of that. But I would like at least one higher end reliever. Then dive on a few if he sees a value guy. 

[Dfan25]

Yeah , I think we are going to see a reliever run here in the next week or so , before the winter meetings  . I thought Helsley was one of the guys they had the best opportunity to get . 
 

 

[Bertz]

1 hour ago, Neuby said:

Raisel Iglesias got $16M , Heasley 14M.  Williams or Jensen are my Hoyer targets.

Jansen is one of the very few relievers who I feel comfortable saying has no chance of coming here.  No judgment, I'm rooting for him, but he's chasing milestones and will want assurances that he gets all save opportunities.  That's not how Craig rolls, especially for a guy who's fairly shakey at this point.

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

Just bring back Keller. I'd take him over Helsley

[Rcal10]

6 minutes ago, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

Just bring back Keller. I'd take him over Helsley

Like to see one of Keller, Fairbanks or Williams. Not saying they are all equal, but all decent options. And depending on who they get for the rotation, maybe they can get two of those guys. 

[chibears55]

5 hours ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

The guy got 2 of the best relievers in the market last year for less than half of that.

So a dumpster dive and hope it works out like usual....

[Rcal10]

58 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

So a dumpster dive and hope it works out like usual....

When does it shift from a dumpster dive to a FO who is good at finding value by evaluating talent? They did an amazing job last year and actually did well the year before. Does the FO ever get credit for finding guys who are more valuable than other FO think they are? I do want a proven guy, but I don’t think the FO should be criticized for finding cheap valuable talent. 

[We Got The Whole 9]

1 hour ago, chibears55 said:

So a dumpster dive and hope it works out like usual....

Did you pay any attention to how the top RP FA performed this year? The guys with the ironclad track records all pretty much sucked.

 

The FO and the development team deserve some credit. They identified the guys they liked and locked them in pretty early and they were total studs.