Ryan Helsley's Orioles deal took an exciting Mariners RP option off the board

Adding a high-leverage arm is supposedly one of the Seattle Mariners' goals for this offseason, and Ryan Helsley seemed to check all the boxes as an option in free agency. He had the electric stuff, the track record, and a low enough contract projection to fit in Seattle's price range.

So much for that, though. Helsley was snapped up by the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday on a two-year deal that will pay him $28 million. And despite reporting from Katie Woo of The Athletic that teams had been considering the 31-year-old righty as a starter, he has already been confirmed by ESPN's Jeff Passan as Baltimore's ninth-inning option.

Mariners' search for high-leverage relievers continues after Ryan Helsley signs with Orioles

The Mariners were never firmly linked to Helsley, but he was one of the guys we liked to fulfill their need for another high-leverage arm to pair with Andrés Muñoz, Matt Brash and Gabe Speier.

Helsley has gotten his fastball as high as 104.2 mph in the past, and he pairs it with a slider that has held hitters to an average in the .100s in each of the last five seasons. He was an All-Star for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2022 and 2024, also leading MLB with 49 saves in the latter season.

Given how his market played out, it's fair to question whether Helsley was ever a realistic option for the Mariners. Since he may have chosen closing over starting, asking him to work under Muñoz in Seattle's pen may have been a non-starter. And even if it wasn't, the Mariners probably wouldn't have been willing to go as far as two years, $28 million to secure his services.

The Mariners purportedly began the offseason with a $30-35 million budget for new salaries. Josh Naylor's $92.5 million contract takes up less of that than it would seem at first glance, but signing him for $18.5 million per year and then Helsley for $14 million per year would have resulted in little left over for other needs, including the Jorge Polanco-shaped one in the lineup.

The fear now is that Helsley's deal will bump up the asking prices for other relievers who theoretically fit in Seattle's pen. He got more than MLB Trade Rumors had projected him for, after all, so guys like Pete Fairbanks, Seranthony Domínguez, Luke Weaver and Emilio Pagán might as well.

The Mariners could be in for some bargain-bin shopping if this proves to be the case, or maybe just resort to looking within for relief help for next season. To the latter end, they have notably already grown their stockpile of electric arms.