Usual MLB suspect is a good candidate to sign NY Mets free agent Ryan Helsley

New York Mets fans aren’t too concerned about where Ryan Helsley will pitch next year. It took only a handful of appearances before we already grew sick of him. Even if he landed with an NL East rival, we saw enough messiness to believe something is broken and unfixable or at least damaged goods.

Helsley will get a contract of some kind. As poorly as he pitched, he isn’t getting run out of the league. His 4.50 ERA overall might have him settling for a pillow contract of some kind. Batters had their way with him throughout the year, even before getting traded to the Mets. Only the first month of the season included a batting average below .250 against him which is pretty bad for a closer.

Where will he land? Look at the usual suspect who tends to spend money on relief pitchers without properly building an entire roster. Hello, Los Angeles Angels.

Put Mets free agent Ryan Helsley down as the next Angels closer

The Angels signed Kenley Jansen last offseason to a one-year deal worth $10 million. Jansen is on his way to testing the free agent market yet again after what should be considered a successful year with the 72-90 Angels who finished last in their division. He wasn’t the only significant free agent signed by the Angels. Yusei Kikuchi got a three-year deal. A year earlier, reliever Robert Stephenson guaranteed himself $33 million over three seasons. He missed all of 2024. He appeared in 12 games last year.

A circle of mistrust has been going on in Anaheim for quite some time. They wasted years with Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout playing together. Their decision to sign Anthony Rendon to a deal paying him nearly $40 million per year has a chance to be the worst contract in MLB history. 

Active to the point where optimistic fans can begin to believe there is a chance to win some games for the coming year, the Angels’ biggest problem has been a lack of self-awareness. They didn’t trade away pending free agents at the deadline. In fact, they did some mild additions. It’s the kind of organization that’ll take a chance on Helsley finding himself again. And if he does, it’ll probably work out well for him while being wasted on a losing team.

Helsley didn’t give too many teams incentive to sign him to be their next closer. A ball club with no serious belief they’ll make the postseason could sign him and look to turn him into a trade candidate. Serious contenders could view him the same way the Mets did, turning him into a setup man. That’d be foolish, though. Helsley failed in that role with the Mets. What’s to say he’ll figure it out in a new area code?