Cardinals Reach Contract Agreements With 3, Claim Bailey Horn From Detroit
CARDINALS REACH 2025 CONTRACT AGREEMENTS WITH HELSLEY, ROMERO & KING
TEAM CLAIMS LEFT-HANDED PITCHER BAILEY HORN FROM DETROIT
ST. LOUIS, MO., January 9, 2025 – The St. Louis Cardinals announced today that they agreed to terms on one-year contracts for 2025 with relievers Ryan Helsley, JoJo Romero and John King, thus avoiding salary arbitration. The team did not come to terms with Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar or Andre Pallante prior to today’s deadline to exchange arbitration figures.
The team also announced today that they have claimed left-handed pitcher Bailey Horn off waivers from the Detroit Tigers.
Helsley set a Cardinals single-season record with 49 saves in 2024 and was named to the National League All-Star Team, 1st Team All-MLB and the recipient of the Trevor Hoffman Award for National League Reliever of the Year.
Helsley, 30, was a Cardinals 5th round draft selection in 2015 and ranks T-6th all-time among Cardinals in career saves with 84. He led all of MLB with his 49 saves last season, converting 92.5 pct. and had a win (7) or save in 56 of the team’s 83 victories.
Romero, 28, appeared in a career-high 65 games last season and posted a 7-3 mark with a 3.36 ERA in 59.0 innings pitched. Romero had 30 Holds, becoming just the 2nd Cardinals lefty to do so, trailing only Ray King’s 31 Holds in 2004.
King, 30, was one of six Cardinals relievers to appear in 50+ games in 2024, going 3-3 with a career-low 2.85 ERA in his 56 games (60.0 IP). The southpaw recorded four or more outs in 17 of his appearances and logged 2.0 IP in six games.
Horn, who will turn 27 on January 15, made his Major League debut in 2024 and appeared in 18 games with the Boston Red Sox. The 6-2, 210-pound Horn also appeared in 21 games (one start) with Triple-A Worcester in 2024 where he went 3-2 with a 2.15 ERA. Horn, a native of Waco, Texas, was originally drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 5th round of the 2020 draft out of Auburn University. He owns a career 15-12 record and 4.26 ERA over 129 career minor league games with 271 strikeouts in 213.1 innings pitched.
– STL –
The Cardinals signed half of their arbitration class, and 2 of the 3 were above the MLB Trade Rumors projected amounts; we’re still waiting on what Romero is making.
| Player | Pos | Service Time | Projected | Actual | +/- |
| Brendan Donovan | UT | 3.000 | $3.6M | No deal | |
| Ryan Helsley | RHP | 5.105 | $6.9M | $8.2M | $1.3M |
| John King | LHP | 3.145 | $1.5M | $1.605M | $105k |
| Lars Nootbaar | OF | 3.076 | $2.5M | No deal | |
| Andre Pallante | RHP | 2.145 | $2.3M | No deal | |
| JoJo Romero | LHP | 4.045 | $1.9M | TBD |
John Denton reported this morning that the team and Donovan were working on a multi-year extension, but those talks fell apart as the morning went on. The team apparently approached Nootbaar about an extension as well.
Historically, the Cardinals are a file and trial team; once the deadline has passed, they’ll wait for an arbitration hearing instead of negotiating with the player. Unless the Cardinals are planning on changing direction under Chaim Bloom, look for 3 hearings during spring training.
On to Horn, who is a low risk, high reward type player. The lefty added a few MPH to his fastball with a move to the bullpen; he sits mid-90s and can touch 98. He’s got great spin on his change and curve; both are average right now, even with the spin. The main issue is control; Horn walks too many hitters to be effective right now. If he sees time in the Majors (this is his 3rd team this off-season), he’ll be in low leverage spots until the Cardinals know they can trust him.
