With obvious closer upgrade officially on the trade block, the Blue Jays must strike

During the 2024 regular season, the Toronto Blue Jays trotted out one of the league's worst bullpens and the stats back that up now that all is said and done.

Blue Jays relievers finished 29th in the game in ERA at 4.82, above only the Colorado Rockies, who at least have the excuse of calling Coors Field home. The Blue Jays 'pen also ranked dead last in FIP (4.84) and HR/9 (1.46). They didn't strike out very many batters and point blank allowed too many runners to not only reach base, but to come around and score.

This makes the bullpen one of the top areas of need as we march on through the 2024-25 offseason. As multiple outlets have stated already, there's roughly three or four spots up for grabs and the Blue Jays should be looking to fill those holes in both free agency and the trade market.

This brings us to a recent report from Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, where he stated the St. Louis Cardinals are expected to field interest in both relief pitcher Ryan Helsley and old friend Steven Matz. As we've discussed already this offseason, the Blue Jays should be all over Helsley. Now that he's more officially on the block, the time is now.

With Ryan Helsley on the trade block, the Blue Jays should strike

Helsley, 30, is fresh off of easily the best season of his six-year career. The right-hander, a free agent for the first time, is coming off of a year in which he made 65 appearances and led the majors with 49 saves. His 2.04 ERA, 2.41 FIP and 206 ERA+ put together led him straight to his first Reliver of the Year Award.

Helsley strikes out a boatload of batters, as evidenced by his 90th percentile finish in K% this past season, while inducing more swings-and-misses than most other pitchers in the game. He relies heavily on a lethal three-pitch mix highlighted by a wipeout slider (48.3% usage) and four-seam fastball (45.4%) with an occasional curveball thrown in for good measure.

Through and through, Helsley tops the list of best-available relievers this winter, and the Blue Jays need to be on the phone with the Cardinals as soon as possible. While Toronto has little in the way of tradeworthy top prospects, they have enough position players that could fill needs the Cardinals have, such as Orelvis Martinez, Spencer Horwitz or Addison Barger.