St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets Complete Four-Player Trade

The St. Louis Cardinals have acquired three minor league players from the New York Mets in exchange for All-Star right-handed reliever Ryan Helsey.

The club announced this news this evening with one day remaining before the MLB trade deadline. Teams have until 6 PM ET on July 31 to trade players. After this time, players must outright clear waivers before they can be traded.

Infielder Jesus Baez, right-handed pitcher, Nate Dohm (dome), and right-handed pitcher Frank Elissalt (EL-ess-SALT) were acquired by St. Louis.

Baez, 20, was signed by the Mets as an international free agent out of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in 2022 as a 17-year-old. In 241 minor league games, Baez has reached High-A Brooklyn, batting a career .243, and smacking 30 home runs and 136 RBI while stealing 29 bases. He ranks 2nd on Brookyln with 10 home runs this season and 3rd with 42 RBI. He ranks as the No. 6 Mets prospect in Baseball America and rated as having the “Best Arm” in the organization by the “Best Tools” survey.

Dohm, 22, was the Mets 3rd round (82nd overall) selection in the 2024 MLB Draft out of Mississippi State University after transferring from Ball State University following his freshman year. The Geneva, Ill. native made 17 starts (18 appearances) between St. Lucie (A) and Brooklyn (High-A) compiling a 3-5 record with a 2.87 ERA striking out 77 batters over 62.2 innings for 11.1 strikeouts/9 IP in his first professional baseball action. He currently ranks as the No. 25 prospect in the Mets organization by Baseball America.

Elissalt, 23, was the Mets’ 19th round (563rd overall) selection in the 2024 MLB Draft out of Nova Southeastern University, the same college that produced Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas. Elissalt, a Miami, Fla. native began his professional career in 2024 with St. Lucie and has compiled career marks of 4-5 with a 3.02 ERA over 21 appearances making seven starts. He has a career WHIP of 0.99 over 56.2 innings and is averaging 10.5 strikeouts/9 IP.

Helsley, 30, pitched in 275 career games for the St. Louis Cardinals since his Major League career began in 2019. The two-time All-Star was drafted in 2015 and was the longest-tenured in the Cardinals organization.