{"id":33262,"date":"2025-03-15T07:10:19","date_gmt":"2025-03-15T07:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=33262"},"modified":"2025-03-15T07:10:19","modified_gmt":"2025-03-15T07:10:19","slug":"red-sox-could-address-bullpen-issues-with-blockbuster-deal-for-81-million-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=33262","title":{"rendered":"Red Sox Could Address Bullpen Issues With Blockbuster Deal For $81 Million Star"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Boston Red Sox have seen injuries to three of their top starting pitchers this spring. Kutter Crawford, Lucas Giolito and Brayon Bello are all expected to begin the season on the injured list with different injuries.<\/p>\n<p>But the starting rotation isn&#8217;t the biggest worry for the Red Sox. In fact, Boston still doesn&#8217;t have a closer, and we&#8217;re just two weeks away from opening day.<\/p>\n<p>As of now, Liam Hendriks, Aroldis Chapman and Justin Slaten are expected to split time as the team&#8217;s closer. This seems like a significant step down from last season when the Red Sox had Kenley Jansen as their closer.<\/p>\n<p>If Boston wants to take a step forward at closer, they could do so in a blockbuster deal with the St. Louis Cardinals.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"imageBox\">\n<div class=\"innerBox ar23-innerBox\"><picture class=\"mapping-embed\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/full\/2607675\/st-louis-cardinals-pitcher-ryan-helsley.webp?w=790&amp;f=99016aa6c43343ee4f759560fa8c38a4 1x\" type=\"image\/webp\" media=\"(min-width: 992px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/full\/2607675\/st-louis-cardinals-pitcher-ryan-helsley.jpg?w=790&amp;f=99016aa6c43343ee4f759560fa8c38a4 1x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"(min-width: 992px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/full\/2607675\/st-louis-cardinals-pitcher-ryan-helsley.webp?w=900&amp;f=4529354e6c0f6d8d65aae1edf23dc5b0 1x\" type=\"image\/webp\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/full\/2607675\/st-louis-cardinals-pitcher-ryan-helsley.jpg?w=900&amp;f=4529354e6c0f6d8d65aae1edf23dc5b0 1x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/full\/2607675\/st-louis-cardinals-pitcher-ryan-helsley.webp?w=790&amp;f=99016aa6c43343ee4f759560fa8c38a4 1x\" type=\"image\/webp\" media=\"(min-width: 481px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/full\/2607675\/st-louis-cardinals-pitcher-ryan-helsley.jpg?w=790&amp;f=99016aa6c43343ee4f759560fa8c38a4 1x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"(min-width: 481px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/full\/2607675\/st-louis-cardinals-pitcher-ryan-helsley.webp?w=450&amp;f=9cd71a0e0d0d01be5b96786765fc80af 1x\" type=\"image\/webp\" media=\"(min-width: 0px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/full\/2607675\/st-louis-cardinals-pitcher-ryan-helsley.jpg?w=450&amp;f=9cd71a0e0d0d01be5b96786765fc80af 1x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"(min-width: 0px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/full\/2607675\/st-louis-cardinals-pitcher-ryan-helsley.webp?w=1200&amp;f=ddbde3ea1e1ae2bb62c086a3095b44a1\" type=\"image\/webp\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"i2607675\" class=\"mapping-embed imgPhoto\" src=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/full\/2607675\/st-louis-cardinals-pitcher-ryan-helsley.jpg?w=1200&amp;f=ddbde3ea1e1ae2bb62c086a3095b44a1\" alt=\"St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Ryan Helsley\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" \/><\/picture><\/div><figcaption class=\"caption ar23-caption\"><span id=\"short-cap-description\" class=\"cap\">JUPITER, FLORIDA &#8211; FEBRUARY 24: Ryan Helsley #56 of the St. Louis Cardinals throws a pitch against the New York Mets \/d3i of a spring training game at Roger Dean Stadium on February 24, 2025&#8230;<\/span>\u00a0<button id=\"read-more-cap\">More<\/button>\u00a0<span class=\"credit ar23-credit\">Rich Storry\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Cardinals will likely look to trade their closer, Ryan Helsley, before he lands in free agency at the end of the season. Spotrac predicts Helsley will sign for $81 million in free agency next winter.<\/p>\n<p>Acquiring him would likely be expensive, but it would be well worth it for Boston. Instead of having to trust a handful of questionable relievers as the team&#8217;s closer, the Red Sox could use the flame-thrower who led baseball in saves last season.<\/p>\n<p>Helsley, 30, posted an impressive 2.04 ERA in 66 1\/3 innings. He recorded 49 saves and was worth 3.0 WAR, both of which were career highs. The righty did this with a struggling Cardinals team. If he lands with the Red Sox, there&#8217;s a chance he eclipses 50 saves in 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Boston Red Sox have seen injuries to three of their top starting pitchers this spring. Kutter Crawford, Lucas Giolito and Brayon Bello are all expected to&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Red Sox Could Address Bullpen Issues With Blockbuster Deal For $81 Million Star - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=33262\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Red Sox Could Address Bullpen Issues With Blockbuster Deal For $81 Million Star - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Boston Red Sox have seen injuries to three of their top starting pitchers this spring. 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