Ryan Helsley Says Arbitration Hearing Was "Tough To Swallow"

Earlier this week, Corbin Burnes went viral for his trashing of the Milwaukee Brewers' "disrespectful" comments during their arbitration hearing. Now we can count the St. Louis Cardinals' closer Ryan Helsley among those who are left with a bad taste.

Ryan Helsley just addressed the media regarding his arbitration hearing. Said he feels less acrimonious than Corbin Burnes did (he’s seen the video) but it was still tough to swallow some of the criticism. Said the Cardinals pointed to durability concerns during the hearing.

— Jeff Jones (@jmjones) February 17, 2023

According to Cardinals beat writer Jeff Jones, Helsley said he feels "less acrimonious than Burnes", but it was still "tough to swallow some of the criticism." The Cards' closer said the team specifically noted some "durability concerns" during the hearing. The 28-year-old had elbow and knee injuries that limited his time and effectiveness in 2021, and finished last season with a finger injury. 

#STLCards closer Ryan Helsley admitted he was surprised at the lengths the team went to win the arbitration case vs. him. The club pointed to durability & availability concerns & his team countered with the 4-out saves he had in 2022. He isn’t angry, but definitely disappointed.

— John Denton (@JohnDenton555) February 17, 2023

He isn’t angry, said another Cards' reporter, but he's definitely disappointed. 

But truly, the 2022 season couldn't really have gone much better for Helsley, who emerged as the Cardinals' closer, and finished with a 9-1 record, 19 saves, a 1.25 ERA, a 0.74 WHIP, and 13.1 strikeouts per nine innings. 

Nevertheless, he lost at arbitration, settling for $2.15M instead of the $3M he asked for. And he had to endure his team speaking negatively about him. 

Until baseball changes the arbitration process, these sorts of bad feelings are going to continue to happen. 

 Photo: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports