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With his team melting in the sweltering stretch run heat, he addressed pressing organizational needs while moving closer Ryan Helsley and his expiring contract to the ever-ambitious New York Mets.

In return he gained pitching prospect Nate Dohm, who could fill one of the slots in the Double-A rotation at Springfield next season. He added a young reliever with a different look in Frank Elissalt.

Addressing the Cardinals’ dearth of right-handed hitting prospects, he got third baseman Jesus Baez — another player who could reach Double-A Springfield next season.

Later, the Cardinals added another right-side hitter closer to the big leagues: First baseman Blaze Jordan, who comes from the Boston Red Sox in a trade for Steven Matz. He could fill the organizational void left when Luken (Home Run) Baker regressed this season.

Meanwhile the Mets earned industry praise for fortifying their bullpen by adding Helsley after making earlier deals for relievers Tyler Rogers and Gregory Soto. They are in it to win it this summer.

’s David Schoenfield gave the Cardinals an A-minus for the trade:

The St. Louis Cardinals were 8-15 in July entering Wednesday, no doubt changing their thinking from playoff contender to playoff pretender and leading to this trade. Baez is the headline prospect, No. 5 on Kiley McDaniel's list of Top 10 prospects in a deep Mets system. The 20-year-old has played all over the infield -- he's probably headed to third base in the long run -- and is hitting .244/.334/.406 in High-A.

He has plus bat speed and some high-end exit velocity readings, and despite being young for his league, he has kept his strikeout rate in check at just 16%. Though the numbers don't necessarily jump out, his .740 OPS is well above the South Atlantic League average of .672. He's hardly a sure thing, but the upside here makes Baez a nice return for a reliever with an expiring contract.

Dohm is the better of the two pitching prospects, a third-round pick last year out of Mississippi State who has a 2.87 ERA as a starter across two levels of A-ball. He has been handled carefully after his junior season in college was cut short because of a forearm strain, but he's a fastball-heavy pitcher with a good slider. He was up to 99 mph as a reliever for the Bulldogs, so that could be his ultimate destination.

In the end, I think the Cardinals read the trade market correctly: The price for relievers has looked pretty high so far, and while they are only five games out of a wild-card spot, they're trending in the wrong direction, with no real signs that they'll snap out of it.

Over at , R.J. Anderson gave the Cardinals an A given the circumstances of the trade:

Considering that the Cardinals were trading a half season of a reliever, this looks like a good return -- one that may lack the name-brand value that the San Francisco Giants received from the Mets in exchange for fellow reliever Tyler Rogers, but that may offer more tangible production. 

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 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. 

Baseball America had these encouraging assessments of the players coming into the Cardinals' organization:

The Mets signed Baez out of the Dominican Republic in 2022, and he showed power potential almost immediately with quality exit velocities and solid home run totals for a teenager. He reached High-A as a 19-year-old in 2024 but suffered a torn meniscus that required surgery. The injury ended his season and forced a late start to 2025, when Baez scuffled out of the gate. The 20-year-old has shown flashes of potential, such as a .993 OPS in May, but is hitting .244/.334/.406 with 10 home runs in 69 games for Brooklyn.

Baez has a filled-out, 5-foot-10 frame with enough strength and bat speed to approach average power if he can rein in his aggressive hitting approach. He is an above-average defender with a strong arm at third base who can fill in at shortstop and second base . . .

(Dohm) moved from the bullpen to rotation as a college junior but had his season abbreviated by an arm injury. Dohm’s 17 starts this season for Low-A St. Lucie and High-A Brooklyn are already more than he made in his college career.

The 22-year-old pitches off a 93-94 mph fastball with riding life. He mixes in a low-80s slider and firm changeup, as well as an occasional sinker and curveball. Dohm has the potential for an average-to-above arsenal that could play at the back of a rotation or in the bullpen. This season he has pitched to a 4.02 ERA with 77 strikeouts and 23 walks in 62.2 innings, allowing five home runs . . .

Elissalt spent the first half of 2025 with Low-A St. Lucie before being promoted to High-A Brooklyn on July 18. Elissalt has pitched in 2-3 inning chunks this season but has started to work deeper into games over the last few months.

The righthander has seen a noticeable velocity jump on his fastball and slider since his time as an amateur, as he now sits 94-95 mph, touching 96 at peak on his four-seam. His fastball generates above-average ride from a lower release height allowing the pitch to play when elevated. Elissalt’s primary secondary is a slider in the 84-86 mph range with tighter gyro shape. He’ll mix in a low-80s curveball with heavy sweep and a changeup in the mid 80s. His pitch shapes lack consistency, and his command is often spotty, limiting Elissalt to an up-and-down relief role long term.

At The Athletic, Keith Law offered this positive scouting report on Baez:

Baez is an aggressive hitter who makes hard contact, topping out at 109.8 mph in Low A last year with a 90th percentile EV of 104.7, but swings at a lot of pitches because he’s got good enough hand-eye coordination to put them in play. His 38 percent chase rate would lead you to expect a lot of strikeouts, but his K rate on the year was only 18.1 percent; he’s just a swing first, ask questions later kind of guy. It’s excellent bat speed with a lot of strength for his age, while his body is already thick enough that he’s going to move off shortstop, more likely third base. He’s got the batted-ball data to indicate future power, with the ceiling of an above-average regular at the hot corner who gets to 25-30 homers with a .270-280 average but a fringy OBP because he’s probably never going to walk much.

Megaphone

“Bullpens win championships. That’s what matters.�

Mets reliever Ryne Stanek.