The objects in the mirror are significantly closer than they appear to the Philadelphia Phillies.

While manager Rob Thomson’s team won the National League East for the first time since 2011, Philadelphia was on the outside looking in last postseason as division rival the New York Mets overtook the Phillies to qualify for the NL Championship Series.

With the Mets ready to spend freely in a stacked free agent market, Philadelphia knows it must make smart moves this winter to keep up as the team has slipped back in its last three postseason appearances Major League Baseball playoffs.

To this end, Newsweek’s Zach Pressnell Projects the Phillies to resolve their closer dilemma and add depth to the team’s starting rotation in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Pressnell suggests Philadelphia send two of its top 10 prospects to St. Louis to be closer to Ryan Helsley, starter Miles Mikolas and money.

In return, the Cardinals would receive pitcher Mick Abel and infielder Devin Saltiban, who rank sixth and ninth, respectively, in the Phillies farm system.

Helsley led all of MLB with 49 saves for a subpar Cardinals team last season. According to multiple reports, he is expected to be on the trading block as St. Louis looks to rebuild in 2025.

The six-year MLB veteran has spent his entire career with the Cardinals thus far. He emerged in the back of the St. Louis bullpen in 2022, recording 19 saves that season, but only 14 saves in 2023.

Few saw Helsley dominate as he did in 2024. Not only did he record nearly 50 saves for an 83-win team, but he also posted a 2.04 ERA with 79 strikeouts in 66-1/3 innings.

Eliminating Mikolas would amount to a pay cut for St. Louis. The two-time All-Star was one of the Cardinals’ best starters, but he has fallen off the cliff since signing a three-year, $55.75 million contract before the 2023 season.

A nine-year MLB veteran, Mikolas posted a 3.29 ERA in 33 games with St. Louis in 2022. However, his ERA climbed to 4.78 in 2023 and ballooned further to 5.35 in 2024.

Pressnell predicted St. Louis would eat up some of the $17.6 million owed to Mikolas next season to complete the deal.

While Mikolas could benefit from a change of scenery to fill a secondary role in Philadelphia’s rotation, the obvious prize here is Helsley.

Philadelphia has made stops from a variety of sources during the team’s recent playoff run. Helsley would end it all by providing a proven firefighter to close out the victories.

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