The Philadelphia Phillies were hit with bad news this week, as José Alvarado will miss 80 games (and the playoffs) after testing positive for a PED. That leaves Philadelphia without its primary closer and lacking shutdown material in the bullpen.
So far, we haven't seen much of an effort to replace Alvarado — Lucas Sims ain't it, with all due respect — but it's coming. Dave Dombrowski swung the Carlos Estévez trade last season and he ought to pursue a similar deal ahead of the 2025 deadline.
One target the Phillies are "keeping a close eye on," per USA Today's Bob Nigthengale, is St. Louis Cardinals fireballer Ryan Helsley. And that was a month ago, before Alvarado hit the banned substance list. The Cards are winning ballgames right now, but Helsley's expiring contract puts him on the block.
Meanwhile, former MLB GM Jim Bowden suggests a trade of Mick Abel for Helsley for The Athletic.
Yeah... no, thanks.
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Phillies should not trade Mick Abel for Cardinals' Ryan Helsley
This is a prime example of how much can change in MLB. A few months ago, the idea of swapping Abel for Helsley was something like a pipe dream. Abel completely lost himself in 2024, sputtering en route to a 6.46 ERA and 1.81 WHIP for Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Helsley, meanwhile, was among the best closers in baseball.
Fast forward to 2025, however, and Helsley is struggling — at least relative to his lofty standards. The 30-year-old has a 3.71 ERA and 1.47 WHIP, with 17 strikeouts in 17.0 innings. His punch-out rate has fallen from a hair under 30 percent last season to 23.8 percent this season, from the 90th percentile to the 68th percentile.
Helsley is still good, but he isn't exactly on the come-up and he's in the final year of his contract. After Dombrowski refused to pay either Estévez or Jeff Hoffman last winter, it's fair to assume he wouldn't break the bank for Helsley.
As for Abel, he has completely reinvented his approach. The jitters of last season are gone and he has a 2.53 ERA with 51 strikeouts in 46.1 innings for Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He recently made his first MLB start in a head-to-head matchup against Paul Skenes. Abel went six scoreless innings and tied a Phillies record with nine strikeouts. Philly won the game, 1-0.
If anything, Philadelphia can call up Abel and use him in the bullpen for a season. Philadelphia's rotation is loaded and Abel won't take precedent over Andrew Painter once the latter gets up to speed, but Abel clearly has MLB stuff. There's no reason to think he won't thrive in short, high-leverage doses where he can really turn up his stuff.
Abel is not untouchable — especially on a team with Philadelphia's rotation depth — but the Phillies can't trade him for a bullpen rental. He's too good.