photo: Ryan Helsley (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
The St. Louis Cardinals have acquired three minor league players from the New York Mets in exchange for All-Star right-handed reliever Ryan Helsley.
St. Louis Cardinals release
We have acquired SS Jesus Baez, RHP Nate Dohm, and RHP Frank Elissalt from the New York Mets in exchange for RHP Ryan Helsley. pic.twitter.com/sdp0wCeffo
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) July 31, 2025
The St. Louis Cardinals have acquired three minor league players from the New York Mets in exchange for All-Star right-handed reliever Ryan Helsley.
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 Brooklyn 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 St. Louis 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.
TCN note
All three Cardinals acquisitions have been assigned to High-A Peoria. The Chiefs active roster is currently 29, or one under the limit. So two players will need to be moved off once the trio of newbies report.
Thursday update
The organization indeed released two players off the Peoria roster on Thursday, reliever Angel Gonzalez and infielder Michael Curialle.
What others say
Cardinals grade: A
Baez, 20, is a righty-swinging infielder with experience at each of the non-first-base infield positions. In 75 games split between Low- and High-A to date, he’s amassed a .242/.332/.390 slash line with 10 home runs and seven stolen bases on 10 attempts. Don’t let the sub-.400 slugging percentage fool you: there’s some legit thump here, as evidenced by his ability to to hit four of his 10 home runs to left- or straight-center, and another three to right field. Baez has also done a nice job of keeping his strikeout rate in check — even this season, while being young for his respective leagues, he’s punched out in just 16.3% of his trips to the plate. It’s to be seen where he ends up defensively, though third base is the most likely answer.
Dohm, 22, was New York’s third-round pick in last summer’s draft who slid because of availability concerns. (He finished his collegiate career with 112 innings over three seasons.) In 18 outings this season (17 of them starts) spread between Low- and High-A, he’s managed a 2.87 ERA and a 3.35 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Dohm’s arsenal is led by a low-to-mid 90s fastball with nearly 18 inches of induced vertical break. He’s tinkered with four other pitches, too, including a slider that leads his repertoire in whiff rate. There’s big-league starter upside here if Dohm can stay healthy.
Elissalt, 23, was a 19th-round pick in 2024 by way of Nova Southeastern University — the same Florida school that produced, among others, J.D. Martinez and Miles Mikolas. Anyway, Elissalt delivers a mid-90s sinker, a changeup that almost serves as a splitter, and a pair of breaking balls from a low release point (5.2 feet). He’s split the year between Low- and High-A, scoring a 3.04 ERA and a 3.10 strikeout-to-walk ratio while mostly pitching in a multi-inning relief capacity. The Cardinals will ostensibly keep him in the bullpen and continue to work on refining his game.
Frank Elissalt immediately has one of the best fastballs in the Cardinals org.
The pitch averages 95 MPH (T98.4) with 16.7" of IVB from a low 5.2-foot release. It produced a 29.5% whiff rate and held opponents to a .089/.212/.233 slash line in the FSL this year. https://t.co/gIiEqaGbH4 pic.twitter.com/V0lYByAxCq
— Kareem (@KareemSSN) July 31, 2025
Báez was a Top 100 prospect 3 months ago and has since fallen out. Very few Top 100 prospects get moved at the deadline especially for rentals. Per @JohnDenton555 & @SamDykstraMiLB, both Báez and Dohm will slot into the #STLCards MLB Pipeline Top 30 with Báez at 6 and Dohm at 15. Elissalt will not be an organizational Top 30 guy. I’m no prospect guru but this seems like a perfectly acceptable return for Helsley.
I don’t love this given the market. Baez (Mets #5 per BA) is a helium bat but undersized (5’8 180). Dohm (Mets #25) profiles as a reliever. Elissalt (outside top 30) I don’t see anything about. It’s a volume play, which is underwhelming imo.
Keith Law, The Athletic (full article for subscribers)
I don’t like this for the Cardinals, to put it mildly. Yes, Helsley’s a rental, so it won’t be hard for them to end up “winning” the deal in terms of value returned — if any of these guys gets to the majors, which is not a guarantee, they’ll probably come out ahead by WAR or your metric of choice. Helsley was one of the best relievers on the market, though, and this can’t have been the best possible return.
Today the #Mets reportedly acquired RHP Ryan Helsley ($4.7M surplus trade value) from the #STLCards in exchange for IF Jesus Baez ($8.2M) and RHPs Nate Dohm ($1.8M) and Frank Elissalt (not in system) ($10.0M total). The deal is accepted by our model as a moderate overpay by NYM.
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