MLB · CF · Texas Rangers
Michael Helman
B/T R/R · 6' 0" · 195 lb · born Lincoln, NE, USA · age 30 · draft 2018 rd 11 · played CF 23, SS 16, 2B 5, LF 3, +3 more · MLB debut 2024-09-03
Injured 60-Day · Right finger fracture (roster status, as of )
35 plate appearances scored this season His season card →
Scout’s note
Michael Helman, a center fielder from Lincoln, Nebraska, debuted in September 2024 and has 62 career MLB games with a .223 average and six home runs. An 11th-round pick out of the 2018 draft, he has shown enough pop and speed — four steals, six homers — to hold a roster spot without forcing his way into everyday at-bats.
Note written · FVR scout (GLM-5.2)
What he’s paid
Pre-arbitrationA market fact, not an engine read: what a club decided about him, on the season before this one. Figures from Cot’s, as of .
- 2026 salary
- $0.60Mest
- Tax hit
- $0.60M
- Service time
- 0 yr 95 d
- Options left
- 2 / 3
The deal 1 year (2026)
On the sheet: 1 y (26)
Regime read from his service time, not from the sheet — it does not project him past this season. Super Two eligibility is the top 22% of a class and can move this line in a way service time alone cannot see.
Cash and the tax hit are two different rulebooks and are never subtracted from one another — see the payroll board for his club, Texas Rangers.
A second set of books
The same contract, read by MLB Spreadsheets (Ethan Hullihen), as of . We keep two sources on this because one source cannot check itself.
- Tax AAV
- $0.79M
- Guaranteed
- $0.79M
- Term
- 1 yr
- His class
- Pre-Arb
What the sheet prices each season at
| Season | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 | 2031 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salary | Minimum | Minimum | Minimum | Arb 1 | Arb 2 | Arb 3 |
A base salary under his own reading, and never subtracted from the cash figure above: a signing bonus lands in one and not the other, so the two disagree on most men without either being wrong. And the sheet does not mark which future seasons are GUARANTEED — a club option and a projected arbitration award are both just a number here, so read past the end of the deal as his forecast rather than as money owed.
The tax AAV above is his number under the CBA’s own rulebook, not the average we work out from Cot’s total. On a contract with deferred money the two come apart on purpose — and neither is subtracted from the other.
Collect Michael Helman
If the signal is right, the cardboard usually finds out later. Current listings:
Michael Helman cards on eBay →Paid link — as an eBay Partner, FVR earns from qualifying purchases.
Not financial advice. We take positions only after publication — never before. Misses stay on the record.
Umpire favor
-0.1 net runs over 1 graded game — an even shake from the zone this season.
Biggest swings: -0.1
The line
Bio & season lines: MLB StatsAPI · refreshed nightly · abbreviations →