Cardinals Tried Bringing Yankees Phenom To St. Louis

The St. Louis Cardinals were busy ahead of the 2025 Major League Baseball trade deadline and it resulted in a few moves, including sending Ryan Helsley to the New York Mets.

The Mets won the sweepstakes, but it sounds like they weren’t the only New York-based team interested in him. SNY’s Andy Martino shared that the New York Yankees had interest in Helsley, but St. Louis showed interest in guys like Spencer Jones, Ben Rice, or Jasson Domínguez.

"Yankees were able to improve the roster quite a bit without sacrificing the future," Martino said. "A few of the players hurt to give up, like Rafael Flores. But on Wed night they left the trade room thinking they might not be able able to help bullpen....Teams were asking for Jones/Rice/Dominguez level for the top relievers. Yankees were determined that this wasn't the year to trade from that grouping...Calls started coming in very late Wednesday that unstuck pen market for them and the got a good result. SP proved much harder. Yanks engaged on (Baltimore Orioles' starting pitching), (Steven Matz), etc, but prices weren't right. (Miami Marlins) never engaged them on (Sandy Alcántara)/(Edward Cabrera).

"They tried for Ryan Helsley and would have had to give up at least one of those top top guys," Martino said.

The Cardinals got a good deal from the Mets, but it certainly wouldn't have hurt to land any of Jones, Rice, or Domínguez. St. Louis has been praised for its deals, though.