The Cardinals made a move.
The Cardinals finally did something. In a literal sense, if not in an impactful sense. They traded cash considerations, who really showed promise last year, for Michael Helman of the Minnesota Twins.
We have acquired INF/OF Michael Helman from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for cash considerations.
Our 40-player roster now stands at 40. pic.twitter.com/w88ZnhZ79u
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) February 6, 2025
This falls more in line with signing Ryan Vilade or claiming Bailey Horn, so I don’t know if this will register on your Excite-O-Meter. But he fulfills a need of the offseason, which is that he is right-handed and he has played CF in the past. Centerfield does not appear to be his position, his position is “utility.” Utility used to mean a player who was not very good defensively at any position, but did stand at many positions. That seems less true now, so maybe he can actually play CF.
He has a 90 wRC+ projection from ZiPs, which is the perfect projection to have no idea how excited to be. If he’s not very good on defense, that’s bad. If he’s very good on defense, that’s good. If he’s fine on defense, that’s a bench player. He’s probably a bench player. Maybe he will platoon with Michael Siani. Here’s what Eric Longenhagen said about him:
“Helman is 28-year-old superutilityman who is hitting for power at St. Paul. He’s most comfortable at third base but has played all over the diamond. He’s a nice upper-level emergency option because of his versatility.”
The Cardinals have actually gotten good value out of these moves in the past few years, like if there’s an area the Cardinals have been good at development, it’s claiming outfielders who other teams do not want anymore. Michael Siani, Richie Palacios, and maybe now… Michael Helman.
Anyway, I actually like the move if you accept that the Cardinals had no money to spend. Which is at least how they’re operating.