The Philadelphia Phillies will have some tough choices to make this winter, no matter what ends up happening in the playoffs.
Philadelphia made a great move this summer and acquired Carlos Estévez to take over the closer role. He has been everything that the Phillies could've hoped for and had a 2.57 ERA over 20 appearances down the stretch in the regular season.
He will be a free agent this winter, and there is a chance that he won't return to Philadelphia. The Phillies will have tough choices to make, with Estévez and Jeff Hoffman both expected to hit free agency. The Phillies certainly could bring at least one of the relievers back, or maybe even both.
But there will be other intriguing options available this winter. One player who was floated as a possible trade candidate is St. Louis Cardinals star closer Ryan Helsley by FanSided's Michael Carpenter.
"The final trade proposal would have Helsley heading the 2024 National League East champion Philadelphia Phillies," Carpenter said. "After a hot start to the season, the Phillies bullpen ran into some trouble down the stretch and could use an elite closer like Helsley to slam the door shut at the end of games. While the likelihood of getting one of their top four prospects is likely off the table, their farm system has some very intriguing players that fit what the Cardinals need...
"Phillies trade: (outfielder) Griffin Burkholder, (third baseman) Carson DeMartini, and (left-handed pitcher) Mavis Graves. Cardinals trade: (right-handed pitcher) Ryan Helsley."
This is just a hypothetical trade proposal, but it is an interesting one for the Phillies. Helsley is a star and led the National League with 49 saves this year. If the Phillies could land him, they would be even better in 2025.
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