St. Louis Cardinals Major League Notebook – November 11–17

photo: Ryan Helsley (Jeff Curry/USA TODAY Sports)

In our weekly Cardinals news recap… As trade rumors surround him, closer Ryan Helsley racks up major awards. Winter Warm-Up details have been announced and prior Cardinals Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Award winners are remembered.

Helsley dominates NL relief awards

St. Louis Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley was twice acclaimed this past week for his relief work during the 2024 season.

The National League saves leader was honored by MLB with the league’s Trevor Hoffman Reliever of the Year Award. It was presented to Helsley during the All-MLB Awards show in Las Vegas on Thursday night.

Helsley was not only the NL saves leader, and the Cardinals franchise single season saves leader but was also named the best reliever in the NL for 2024 alongside the AL winner, Cleveland’s Emmanuel Clasé.

In addition, Helsley was selected to the All-MLB First Team. This sixth annual award was also revealed on Thursday, representing the best players at each position for the 2024 season. It is split into first and second team, with one player at each position plus five starting pitchers and two relievers. The vote was divided between 50% fan vote and 50% panel of experts.

The Trevor Hoffman Reliever of the Year Award has been given out annually since 2014 and voted on by a panel of retired relievers. This award was a first for Helsley; Clasé is a two-time winner.

The 30-year-old Helsley finished the season with 49 saves, breaking the Cardinals franchise record held by Trevor Rosenthal. He posted a record of 7-4 with an ERA of 2.04, and 79 strikeouts in 66 1/3 innings. He is the first Cardinal closer to lead in the saves category since Lee Smith (47 saves) did so in 1991.

Congratulations to Ryan!

Cardinals announce 2025 Winter Warm-Up plans

The Cardinals announced that the 2025 Winter Warm-Up will take place January 18-20 at Busch Stadium and Ballpark Village. In conjunction, the annual Cardinals Caravan will tour the Midwest from January 17-20.

Fans will be able to enjoy main stage entertainment at the 28th annual event that includes Q&A sessions, presentations, and other forms of entertainment. Access to the area is free but VIP seating will be reserved for WWU ticket holders.

Included with Admission are a Cardinals Clubhouse Tour, Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum admission and other activities.

New to the event is Mystery Autograph tickets available to fans who purchase an Adult Three-Day Weekend ticket from November 29 through December 8 (while supplies last).

The 2025 event will be cashless and admission tickets will be issued via the MLB Ballpark app.

Access more information at https://www.mlb.com/cardinals/fans/winter-warm-up . Further information about the Cardinals Caravan can be found at https://www.mlb.com/cardinals/community/caravan .

News and Notes for the Offseason

In this space will be information on news and events of the offseason that do not require extensive coverage. Check back each week to learn what is happening.

Trade and Acquisition Rumors

The chatter continues about the possibility of the Cardinals moving closer Ryan Helsley this offseason. The 30-year-old reliever put up his best season ever in 2024 and is entering his final year of arbitration.

Ryan Helsley

With only one year of control remaining, and a substantial arbitration salary looming, the Cardinals dealing Helsley in the offseason seems like a foregone conclusion. Both Katie Woo of the Athletic and Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch have written about the likelihood of a trade with Woo reporting over a week ago that Helsley was already generating significant interest from teams prior to his being named NL Reliever of the Year.

There is no doubt that Helsley’s value is peaking and the optimal time to trade him appears to be now. Given the Cardinals’ current plans to downsize the major league payroll, and an expectation the team will not contend in 2025, the motivation to trade Helsley for a substantial haul of prospects could not be greater.

Transactions

  • 11/16 The Cardinals signed UT Jose Barrero to a minor league deal with an invite to spring training.

Cardinals Sign Cuban Jose Barrero to Minor League Contract

Injury Report

There are no new injuries to report.

Looking Ahead

Free agency has opened and rosters are being adjusted for the upcoming season. November is also the month for annual awards.

The Gold Glove Awards and Silver Slugger Awards have been given out. The Cardinals had three finalists (top three finishers) for Gold Gloves, Masyn Winn, Nolan Arenado, and Brendan Donovan, but none of the three won. The Cardinals had no finalists for the 2024 Silver Sluggers.

Other awards will be given out in the coming weeks. The dates for other key awards in November are:

  • November 18-21 – Winners of the Manager of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Cy Young and MVP are announced.

Other key dates in November are:

  • November 19 – Decisions to accept or reject qualifying offers and filing of Reserve Lists (adding eligible minor leaguers to 40-man rosters) are to be made on this date.
  • November 22 – Non-tender deadline.

As expected, the Cardinals did not make the Qualifying Offer to any of their free agents.

Teams must add back to the 40-man roster players who ended the season on the 60-day injured list by November 19. Only one Cardinal, Drew Rom, applies. Once Rom is re-added, the 40-man roster will be at 36 players.

Decisions for players to be added to the roster to protect them from the Rule 5 draft will be made by November 19.

On or before November 22, the team must decide what players, if any, will not be tendered contracts for the 2025 season. This group includes both arbitration eligible and pre-arb players. There have been no indications at this time if any Cardinals will be non-tendered.

Blast from the Past

One of the first types of events occurring early in the offseason are the various award presentations.

This week’s Blast from the Past continues a series that will showcase the offseason awards, specifically the history of Cardinals players that have won the various awards over their history. The Gold Glove Awards and Silver Slugger Awards were covered in past installments.

Bob Gibson’s 1968 Cy Young Award

This installment will cover two awards, the Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young Award, and those Cardinals who have won those awards. We begin with a brief history of both and conclude with the list of player winners.

The Rookie of the Year Award was established in 1947. The award has been given annually to one player in each league since 1949. Discretion was used to define who was a rookie through 1956, when specific criteria was established, which has been amended twice. Select members of The Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) are the voters for this award.

Named for the winningest pitcher in baseball history, the Cy Young Award is voted upon by members of the BBWAA prior to the postseason. From 1956 to 1966, the award was given to one pitcher but has gone to one pitcher per league since 1967.

The following are the Cardinals who have won these awards, and the years they were honored.

Stan Musial, Bill Virdon, Wally Moon

Rookie of the Year

  • Wally Moon – Moon, an outfielder for the Cardinals from 1954-1958, won in 1954. Moon hit .304/.371/.435 with 12 home runs and 76 RBI in his 716 NL-leading plate appearances.
  • Bill Virdon – Virdon was an outfielder for the Cardinals for two seasons. He won the award in 1955. Virdon hit .281/.322/.433 with 17 home runs and 68 RBI.
  • Bake McBride – Missouri native McBride was an outfielder for the Cardinals from 1973-1977. He won the award in 1974. McBride slashed .309/.369/.394 with six home runs and 56 RBI.
  • Vince Coleman – Coleman played left field for St. Louis from 1985-1990. He was Rookie of the Year in 1985. Coleman’s slash line was .267/.320/.335 and he led the majors in stolen bases with 110.
  • Todd Worrell – Worrell was a relief pitcher for the Cardinals from 1985-1989, and again in 1992. He received the award in 1986. Worrell led the NL in saves with 36 and in games finished with 60 and posted an ERA of 2.08.
  • Albert Pujols – Pujols was with the Cardinals from 2001-2011, then returned for his final year in 2022. Pujols earned the most recent Rookie of the Year Award by a Cardinal in 2001. Pujols slashed .329/.403/.610 with 37 home runs and 130 RBI.
Bob Gibson

Cy Young Award

  • Bob Gibson – Gibson is considered the best starting pitcher in the history of the franchise and received the Cy Young Award twice, in 1968 and 1970. 1968 is often referred to as “the Year of the Pitcher”. Gibson remains the record holder for the lowest ERA in a single season at 1.12. He led all of baseball in shutouts with 13 and he topped the NL in strikeouts with 268.
  • Chris Carpenter – Carpenter was with the Cardinals from 2003-2013, though his first and last year were spent entirely on the injured list. He earned the Cy Young in 2005. He finished among the top three for the award in 2006 and 2009. In 2005, Carpenter posted a 21-5 record and an ERA of 2.83. He led the majors with seven complete games. He is also known for his spectacular performance in Game 5 of the 2011 NLDS against the Phillies.

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