Redbird Droppings: Our Lord and Savior Michael Helman

A lot of Michael Helman this week on Redbird Droppings

The Cardinals quiet off-season had the tiniest of news yesterday as the team acquired a utility player in trade. They also are talking with Boston again about Arenado. Plus a couple of minor league roster moves and some former Cardinals join new teams.

The Cardinals Fix The Roster
The team announced yesterday they acquired utility man Michael Helman from the Minnesota Twins for cash; everything is fixed now, right? While most of social media will make a joke about Helman being the savior, he’s actually a useful player, especially for a team like the Cardinals that doesn’t box a player into a single position.

He was an 11th round pick of the Twins in 2018 out of Texas A&M; he signed for an above slot $220k after being one of the top players in the SEC. He had a great short-season debut in 2018, but struggled with full season ball in 2019. After sitting out 2020 (with most of the other minor leaguers during Covid), he rebounded in 2021, albeit as one of the oldest players in Hi-A; he ended the season playing in the Arizona Fall League.

2022 was a breakout season, where his power started to develop and showed improved plate discipline. His 2023 was derailed by injury, but 2024 was good enough to get him a cup of coffee at the end of the season; he

The chances of him being a Tommy Edman/Brendan Donovan type utility guy are slim, but there is a chance. He’s a solid contact hitter with good plate discipline and plus speed; he’s got limited pop, so maybe 12-15 homers tops if he gets significant playing time.

Defensively, he’s good but not great at any position. He’s primarily played second, but has seen time at third, short, and all 3 outfield positions (he’s gotten the most time in center). His arm is OK at any of the positions. In 9 MLB games, he went 3 for 10 with 2 doubles.

The good thing about Helman is he’s still got options available; he won’t have to make the roster out of camp. He’ll probably start the season at Memphis, but could be up as soon as there’s an injury or if Thomas Saggese struggles out of the gate.

His scouting report shows he’s the type of player that Cardinals fans traditionally love; it’ll be interesting to see if he develops into a solid Major Leaguer.

With his addition, the 40-man roster is now full. He’s been added to the 2025 Salary Matrix.

More Arenado talks with Red Sox
Nolan Arenado to the Boston Red Sox chatter has started up again, and I have to wonder which side initiated the talks: The Red Sox, the Cardinals, or Arenado’s camp? It makes sense to a degree, but the Red Sox need to open a spot for Arenado before anything happens.

Currently, Rafael Devers is at third and Triston Casas is at first. While Casas would be a nice player in the deal, it’s not going to happen for a few reasons.

First off, the Cardinals will not get a player of that caliber in return; the money owed Arenado is way too much and the Cardinals don’t want to throw much in to acquire better players. Secondly, the Cardinals don’t have a need for a first baseman; they’ve already established that Willson Contreras is the primary first baseman, and the DH spot is going to be filled by Donovan, Alec Burleson, and Luken Baker. Lastly, the Red Sox could move Casas to a different team and get a better return than Arenado and his contract.

John Denton believes the Cardinals have asked about first baseman Blaze Jordan in a potential Arenado deal; that makes a little more sense because Jordan costs nothing yet, is a solid prospect, and has a year or 2 before he’s ready for the Majors.

I still don’t see a deal happening until Alex Bregman is off the market; he’s younger and (slightly) better than Arenado at this point of time.

Arbitration News
The arbitration hearing for Lars Nootbaar is complete but the details haven’t been announced yet; they are waiting until Donovan’s hearing has been completed to release the ruling. It hasn’t been announced why, but both players have the same amount of service time and Nootbaar’s outcome could potential impact Donovan’s; rather that having that happen, they’ll just wait.

Nootbaar filed for $2.95M; the team filed at $2.45. Donovan filed at $3.3M; the team filed at $2.85.

Additional moves:
The Cardinals have made a couple of minor league moves that I hadn’t noted:

• Peoria OF Alex Iadisernia has announced his retirement.
• Catcher Yohel Pozo (27) was signed from the Oakland Athletics; he saw some MLB time with the Texas Rangers in 2021. He’s a contact hitter who doesn’t walk, but also doesn’t strikeout. This is a depth signing and should have no impact on the big league team.
• The team re-signed RHP Victor Santos (24) to a 2-year minor league deal as he’s recovering from an injury that he apparently sustained in winter ball; he’s going to miss the 2025 season. He came from to the team from the Red Sox in the Tyler O’Neill deal last off-season.
• RHP Zack Weiss (32) is joining the system from the Twins; he’s thrown 27.1 innings of 4.61 ERA ball in the Majors. He strikes a lot of guys out in the minors, but also allows a lot of walks. He’ll be a depth guy as well, but could see some MLB time if someone in the bullpen gets hurt.

Former Cardinals:

• Harrison Bader signs a 1 yr/$6.25M deal with the Twins; he could receive up to $2M in incentives. Interesting note: Bader’s addition to the 40-man cost Helman his spot; Bader is still helping the Cardinals out years later.
• The Detroit Tigers have signed Jack Flaherty to a front loaded 2 yr/$35M deal ($25M in 2025 and $10M in 2026), which includes up to $10M in incentives if he makes 15 starts in ’25. Flaherty started the 2024 season with the Tigers, so they are fairly familiar with each other; they traded him to the Dodgers at the trade deadline.
• Randal Grichuk is returning to the Arizona Diamondbacks on a 1 yr/$2M contract with $5M mutual opt ($3M buyout); he’ll receive $250k for 200 plate appearances, another $250k for getting to 275, and a $250k assignment bonus if traded.
• 2-time former Cardinal Tommy Pham is getting a 1 yr/$4M deal from the Pirates; he’s potentially getting an additional $250k worth incentives. It’s kind of impressive that he’s getting a guaranteed contract after his second half struggles with the Cardinals and Kansas City Royals last season.

Around the Web:

• Sports Illustrated believes Jose Urquidy makes sense for the Cardinals; he’ll miss most of 2025, so they suggest a 2 year deal.
• The Cardinal Nation gives a little insight into Week 2 of Cardinals Development Camp.
• Jimmy Crooks came close to MLB’s Top 100 Prospects.
• Don’t forget about the Cardinals 5k and Theme Ticket Schedule.