Cardinals-Mets Blockbuster Explained: Why St. Louis Traded Ryan Helsley Now

It was a big day for the St. Louis Cardinals organization on Wednesday.

The Cardinals swung two separate trades. St. Louis traded Ryan Helsley to the New York Mets and Steven Matz to the Boston Red Sox.

Of the two moves, the biggest obviously was sending Helsley to the Mets for Jesus Baez (Mets' No. 8 prospect), RHP Nate Dohm (Mets' No. 14), and RHP Frank Elissalt.

So, why now? Rumors were building all offseason and even last season, but the Cardinals kept Helsley around. That isn’t the case any longer. Helsley is heading to free agency after the season and although he expressed interest in remaining with the organization, St. Louis has a 55-55 record and is 5 1/2 games out of a Wild Card spot.

The price for relievers is sky-high right now and the opportunity was simply too good to pass up. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch also shared insight into the team's process with the types of prospects the team wanted.

"In exchange for Helsley, the longest-tenured Cardinal on their roster, the Cardinals received three minor leaguers, including the Mets’ No. 6 prospect, shortstop Jesus Baez," Goold said. "The two other players coming from the Mets are right-handers Frank Elissalt and Nate Dohm. Baseball America ranks Dohm as the Mets’ 25th-best prospect.

"A priority for the Cardinals at the deadline was acquiring players from the lower minors who would not create more traffic on the 40-player roster before new front office leadership takes over following this season."

The Cardinals seemingly targeted high-risk, high-reward young prospects in the deals.

Helsley is a superstar and has been great for St. Louis. But, with the playoffs looking more and more like a pipe dream this season, getting some young guys more opportunities while bringing in more prospects is right move. Helsley expressed interest in re-signing with the Cardinals in the offseason, but that isn't guaranteed. It was either go now, or potentially lose him for not much.