Category: Sports News

Ryan Helsley was fully aware of the trade rumors linking him to the Mets -- he just didn't understand the interest at first, considering the established hierarchy in the back-end of their bullpen.

But by the time the hard-throwing veteran was acquired in a deal with the Cardinals on Wednesday, just one day before MLB's annual trade deadline, he realized that all contending teams strive for a surplus of high-leverage relievers.

"I was kind of surprised when you have [Edwin] Diaz here. But in the playoffs, you'll take as many good arms as you can get," Helsley said on Friday, wearing new uniform colors. "I'm excited. I obviously spent 11 years with St. Louis in their organization, but I'm excited to be here and be with such a great team."

Helsley is joining a revamped Mets bullpen that should provide ample support for Diaz, who's still entrusted with closer duties. There's plenty of firepower, too, as the team added Tyler Rogers in a swap with the Giants on Thursday and obtained Gregory Soto from the Orioles last week.

While it's still unclear how the Mets will delegate, a late-inning role undoubtedly belongs to Helsley, who logged a 3.00 ERA with 41 strikeouts and 21 saves across 36 appearances for the Cardinals this season.

"I told [Carlos Mendoza] I'll be ready to pitch whenever he wants me to," Helsley said. "[Diaz] has the ninth and he's one of the best closers in the game. He's been one of the best for seven years, so he definitely deserves that role. So if I need to throw the sixth, seventh, eighth, I'll be glad to do so."

The 2025 campaign hasn't been blemish-free for Helsley, as he's already blown more saves (5) than he did last season and opponents are hitting a robust .406 against his fastball with a .522 slugging percentage. 

But the 31-year-old isn't fazed by ninth-inning pressure -- he logged a league-best 49 saves in 2024, and his 103 saves since 2022 rank fourth among all relievers.

"During the trade deadline, anybody that's looking at you, they're probably in the hunt for a playoff spot," Helsley said. "That's exciting. But looking at this team and how we competed against them this year, you know how strong they are, from top to bottom. The pitching staff as a whole too."

Helsley is slated to become a free agent this coming offseason. Whether or not he returns to the team in 2026, he's equipped to provide a tremendous boost to a championship contender that's in the thick of a division race.

Since the start of June, the Mets' bullpen owns a 4.87 ERA, the 25th-worst mark in the majors.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza provided some updates prior to Friday's series opener against the Giants...

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Juan Soto in the clear

As expected, Soto is back in the Mets’ lineup for Friday’s series opener. 

The outfielder was listed as day-to-day after suffering a foot contusion earlier this week. 

However, Mendoza told reporters prior to Wednesday’s series finale in San Diego that he was feeling better and was expected to be good to go when the club returned home.

Now, it is official.

“We knew the other day that we had a player,” the skipper said. “I checked with him yesterday and he had no issues, so he’s good to go.”

That is a huge sigh of relief for the Mets, who could ill-afford to lose Soto for any time. 

The plan for the bullpen 

The Mets have plenty of weapons in their bullpen after their deadline revamp.

All three arms they picked up -- Gregory Soto, Tyler Rogers, and Ryan Helsley -- come with plenty of experience pitching in the late innings of big ballgames.

Still, the team will lean on All-Star closer Edwin Diaz as their top option. 

That doesn’t come as a surprise with the type of campaign Diaz is putting together, but these three new pieces will allow Mendoza to be a bit more creative with when he decides to use his lockdown reliever. 

“We’ll continue using [Diaz] the way we’ve been using him,” he said. “If we feel like the best way to deploy him is in the eighth inning, we will do it and we’ll figure it out in the ninth. That’s how we’ve been doing it.

“Now figuring out that ninth, it could be Helsley, it could be Rogers, it could be a lot of different options. But in talking to Helsley, he’s willing to pitch in any situation needed. He’s here to help us win baseball games.”

The plan in CF

The Mets’ only other addition ahead of the deadline was center fielder Cedric Mullins. 

Mullins isn’t in the lineup for Friday’s matchup, as he arrived at the ballpark a little late. But Mendoza expects that he’ll play a lot down the stretch. 

Jeff McNeil and Tyrone Taylor will still see time out there, but certainly not as much. 

The skipper has seen plenty of Mullins over the years in the AL East, and he says there’s a lot to like.

“Defensively, offensively, whether it’s hitting for power or running the bases,” he said. “There’s a lot that doesn’t go into the box score -- running the bases, going first to third, getting a bunt down to get a runner over, cutting a ball in the outfield to keep the double play in order.

“Just another really good player we’re adding to a strong position player group.”

Though Taylor will be on the weaker-side of the platoon, he is still expected to be a big piece off the bench. 

“Obviously his time is going to go down a bit,” Mendoza said. “But he could come into the game and get the biggest at-bat, come off the bench to steal a base or for defense, he’s still an important part of this team.”

Francisco Alvarez good to go

Alvarez had a bit of a scare during Wednesday’s finale in San Diego.

The young backstop exited the game after taking a ball off the mask in the bottom of the fifth. 

He did clear concussion protocol, but suffered a head contusion on the play. 

While Alvarez is out of Friday's lineup, Mendoza said he should be a player off the bench. 

The team is just opting to give him an extra day as a precaution.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza provided some updates prior to Friday's series opener against the Giants...

---

Juan Soto in the clear

As expected, Soto is back in the Mets’ lineup for Friday’s series opener. 

The outfielder was listed as day-to-day after suffering a foot contusion earlier this week. 

However, Mendoza told reporters prior to Wednesday’s series finale in San Diego that he was feeling better and was expected to be good to go when the club returned home.

Now, it is official.

“We knew the other day that we had a player,” the skipper said. “I checked with him yesterday and he had no issues, so he’s good to go.”

That is a huge sigh of relief for the Mets, who could ill-afford to lose Soto for any time. 

The plan for the bullpen 

The Mets have plenty of weapons in their bullpen after their deadline revamp.

All three arms they picked up -- Gregory Soto, Tyler Rogers, and Ryan Helsley -- come with plenty of experience pitching in the late innings of big ballgames.

Still, the team will lean on All-Star closer Edwin Diaz as their top option. 

That doesn’t come as a surprise with the type of campaign Diaz is putting together, but these three new pieces will allow Mendoza to be a bit more creative with when he decides to use his lockdown reliever. 

“We’ll continue using [Diaz] the way we’ve been using him,” he said. “If we feel like the best way to deploy him is in the eighth inning, we will do it and we’ll figure it out in the ninth. That’s how we’ve been doing it.

“Now figuring out that ninth, it could be Helsley, it could be Rogers, it could be a lot of different options. But in talking to Helsley, he’s willing to pitch in any situation needed. He’s here to help us win baseball games.”

The plan in CF

The Mets’ only other addition ahead of the deadline was center fielder Cedric Mullins. 

Mullins isn’t in the lineup for Friday’s matchup, as he arrived at the ballpark a little late. But Mendoza expects that he’ll play a lot down the stretch. 

Jeff McNeil and Tyrone Taylor will still see time out there, but certainly not as much. 

The skipper has seen plenty of Mullins over the years in the AL East, and he says there’s a lot to like.

“Defensively, offensively, whether it’s hitting for power or running the bases,” he said. “There’s a lot that doesn’t go into the box score -- running the bases, going first to third, getting a bunt down to get a runner over, cutting a ball in the outfield to keep the double play in order.

“Just another really good player we’re adding to a strong position player group.”

Though Taylor will be on the weaker-side of the platoon, he is still expected to be a big piece off the bench. 

“Obviously his time is going to go down a bit,” Mendoza said. “But he could come into the game and get the biggest at-bat, come off the bench to steal a base or for defense, he’s still an important part of this team.”

Francisco Alvarez good to go

Alvarez had a bit of a scare during Wednesday’s finale in San Diego.

The young backstop exited the game after taking a ball off the mask in the bottom of the fifth. 

He did clear concussion protocol, but suffered a head contusion on the play. 

While Alvarez is out of Friday's lineup, Mendoza said he should be a player off the bench. 

The team is just opting to give him an extra day as a precaution.

Some MLB teams make trades. This one dealt nearly half its roster originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

A month and a half into this season, the hottest team in Major League Baseball played in Minnesota.

When the standings closed on May 17, the Twins had won 13 consecutive games to sit second in their division. It was the franchise’s longest winning streak in 34 years, and the longest in all of MLB since 2022. Minnesota had one of baseball’s best staff of relief pitchers and an All-Star outfielder in Byron Buxton. Suddenly, a spring training declaration by the team’s top baseball executive, Derek Falvey, that reaching the World Series “has to be the mission from Day One,” sounded more like a possibility.

By this week’s trade deadline, that mission had changed dramatically.

No longer ascending in the standings, the Twins had moved from a buyer looking to bolster its lineup ahead of a playoff run into a seller trying to extract some value from a lost season — the kind of shift in thinking that happens to numerous teams across all professional sports.

Yet the scope of the Twins sell-off Thursday, in the final hours before the deadline, was anything but typical. Many teams out of playoff contention sell off key parts; the Twins, however, took it to an extreme. Over nine trades, they dealt away 11 players from a 26-man roster.

When Falvey sent a signed message to fans late Thursday, he wrote that “this wasn’t about patchwork or small adjustments.”

That was an understatement.

“We had been hovering around or under .500 for a period of time and just couldn’t quite get things going in the right direction, and we’ve got to find a new way to do it,” Falvey told reporters.

Falvey framed the roster reset as a baseball decision for the future of a team that had gone from six games above .500 on May 17 tosix games under. But along with bringing back a collection of prospects, the trades also accomplished slashing its payroll, and making it less expensive to operate. The trade of the highest-paid Twin, shortstop Carlos Correa, was effectively to ensure that another team, Houston, would foot the bill for more than $70 million of his remaining salary.

The Twins have historically never been among the top-spending teams, and their decline since May had only further disincentivized adding costs to a team whose ownership has been publicly looking to get out of the baseball business since late last year, when the Pohlad family — which has owned the franchise since 1984 — announced it was looking sell the team.

“The sale process continues to be an ongoing reality for our organization and something that we will work through at the right time,” Falvey said.

The intention to sell was announced at a time when labor peace between players and the league, and the attractiveness of owning a franchise in a smaller market, have come under question. Six teams last season had a payroll of $102 million or less, according to Spotrac, less than the amount the Los Angeles Dodgers reportedly paid in taxes alone.

The average MLB team valuation at the season’s start was $2.62 billion, per CNBC. Minnesota’s $1.6 billion valuation ranked 22nd out of 30 teams.

The few remaining holdovers include pitcher Joe Ryan and Buxton, who only two weeks earlier had noted the security provided by his no-trade clause.

“I’m a Minnesota Twin for the rest of my life,” Buxton said at the All-Star game. “So, that’s the best feeling in the world.”

The Twins woke up to a different feeling Friday. To fill out their roster for their first game after the deadline, the Twins were forced to call up eight players from the minor leagues. Gone are five relievers from a bullpen that had shined during the team’s winning streak, including top closer Jhoan Duran. Players on longer contracts, such as Correa, and others expiring at the end of the season were dealt with equal measure.

On Reddit, one user noted that the roster upheaval had turned the Twins’ official Instagram account into a series of graphics announcing either a “trade alert” or a “thank you” to a departed player.

The extreme teardown took place less than two years after Minnesota won its division and made the postseason for the first time in three years.

“I had some conversations with the front office in Minnesota and we were not moving in the direction that I thought we were after [making] the playoffs [in 2023], and they agreed with me that it was time to move me,” Correa told MLB.com.

And 10 others, too.

Some MLB teams make trades. This one dealt nearly half its roster originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

A month and a half into this season, the hottest team in Major League Baseball played in Minnesota.

When the standings closed on May 17, the Twins had won 13 consecutive games to sit second in their division. It was the franchise’s longest winning streak in 34 years, and the longest in all of MLB since 2022. Minnesota had one of baseball’s best staff of relief pitchers and an All-Star outfielder in Byron Buxton. Suddenly, a spring training declaration by the team’s top baseball executive, Derek Falvey, that reaching the World Series “has to be the mission from Day One,” sounded more like a possibility.

By this week’s trade deadline, that mission had changed dramatically.

No longer ascending in the standings, the Twins had moved from a buyer looking to bolster its lineup ahead of a playoff run into a seller trying to extract some value from a lost season — the kind of shift in thinking that happens to numerous teams across all professional sports.

Yet the scope of the Twins sell-off Thursday, in the final hours before the deadline, was anything but typical. Many teams out of playoff contention sell off key parts; the Twins, however, took it to an extreme. Over nine trades, they dealt away 11 players from a 26-man roster.

When Falvey sent a signed message to fans late Thursday, he wrote that “this wasn’t about patchwork or small adjustments.”

That was an understatement.

“We had been hovering around or under .500 for a period of time and just couldn’t quite get things going in the right direction, and we’ve got to find a new way to do it,” Falvey told reporters.

Falvey framed the roster reset as a baseball decision for the future of a team that had gone from six games above .500 on May 17 tosix games under. But along with bringing back a collection of prospects, the trades also accomplished slashing its payroll, and making it less expensive to operate. The trade of the highest-paid Twin, shortstop Carlos Correa, was effectively to ensure that another team, Houston, would foot the bill for more than $70 million of his remaining salary.

The Twins have historically never been among the top-spending teams, and their decline since May had only further disincentivized adding costs to a team whose ownership has been publicly looking to get out of the baseball business since late last year, when the Pohlad family — which has owned the franchise since 1984 — announced it was looking sell the team.

“The sale process continues to be an ongoing reality for our organization and something that we will work through at the right time,” Falvey said.

The intention to sell was announced at a time when labor peace between players and the league, and the attractiveness of owning a franchise in a smaller market, have come under question. Six teams last season had a payroll of $102 million or less, according to Spotrac, less than the amount the Los Angeles Dodgers reportedly paid in taxes alone.

The average MLB team valuation at the season’s start was $2.62 billion, per CNBC. Minnesota’s $1.6 billion valuation ranked 22nd out of 30 teams.

The few remaining holdovers include pitcher Joe Ryan and Buxton, who only two weeks earlier had noted the security provided by his no-trade clause.

“I’m a Minnesota Twin for the rest of my life,” Buxton said at the All-Star game. “So, that’s the best feeling in the world.”

The Twins woke up to a different feeling Friday. To fill out their roster for their first game after the deadline, the Twins were forced to call up eight players from the minor leagues. Gone are five relievers from a bullpen that had shined during the team’s winning streak, including top closer Jhoan Duran. Players on longer contracts, such as Correa, and others expiring at the end of the season were dealt with equal measure.

On Reddit, one user noted that the roster upheaval had turned the Twins’ official Instagram account into a series of graphics announcing either a “trade alert” or a “thank you” to a departed player.

The extreme teardown took place less than two years after Minnesota won its division and made the postseason for the first time in three years.

“I had some conversations with the front office in Minnesota and we were not moving in the direction that I thought we were after [making] the playoffs [in 2023], and they agreed with me that it was time to move me,” Correa told MLB.com.

And 10 others, too.

Luisangel Acuña's latest stint with the Mets has come to an end, at least for now.

The team announced Friday evening that the versatile infielder was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse to make room for new outfielder Cedric Mullins. 

Acuña has seen his playing time drop as Ronny Mauricio, Brett Baty and Mark Vientos stabilized their offensive production. Since being recalled on July 10, Acuña has only appeared in 12 games. In that span, he went 3-for-14 with a double, one RBI and one stolen base.

With Mullins splitting centerfield with Tyrone Taylor, pushing Jeff McNeil to his natural position of second base, there was no room for Acuña on the roster.

In addition to the Acuña move, the Mets also outrighted LHP Jose Castillo to Triple-A after he cleared waivers after being DFA'd on July 27.. In 14 appearances with the Mets, Castillo pitched to a 2.19 ERA and a 1.86 WHIP. 

The team also announced that LHP Brandon Waddell is expected to begin a rehab assignment with Double-A Binghamton on Saturday.

 

Luisangel Acuña's latest stint with the Mets has come to an end, at least for now.

The team announced Friday evening that the versatile infielder was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse to make room for new outfielder Cedric Mullins. 

Acuña has seen his playing time drop as Ronny Mauricio, Brett Baty and Mark Vientos stabilized their offensive production. Since being recalled on July 10, Acuña has only appeared in 12 games. In that span, he went 3-for-14 with a double, one RBI and one stolen base.

With Mullins splitting centerfield with Tyrone Taylor, pushing Jeff McNeil to his natural position of second base, there was no room for Acuña on the roster.

In addition to the Acuña move, the Mets also outrighted LHP Jose Castillo to Triple-A after he cleared waivers after being DFA'd on July 27.. In 14 appearances with the Mets, Castillo pitched to a 2.19 ERA and a 1.86 WHIP. 

The team also announced that LHP Brandon Waddell is expected to begin a rehab assignment with Double-A Binghamton on Saturday.

 

Heading into the All-Star Break, Tyler Rogers wasn’t expecting to be moved. 

The Giants were in the thick of things in the crowded NL Wild Card race, but they opened the second half of the season on an extreme cold stretch and quickly things changed.

The dagger was a three-game sweep at home against the Mets. 

After that, San Fran began looking more like obvious sellers heading towards the trade deadline, and then on Wednesday afternoon, the right-hander was shipped out to the Big Apple in a deal for three young pieces.  

“I spent so long in San Francisco, great people over there,” Rogers said. “I gave them everything I had, I can’t say enough about the people over there and the city, it’s where I got started and got drafted -- I just can’t say much more about them.” 

Ironically enough, it won’t take long for him to see his former club again.

His first outing in orange and blue will likely come against them this weekend, as the two teams face off in a three-game set at Citi Field. 

Once he does that, he’ll have an appearance against every team in his career. 

“Baseball is funny that way,” he said. “13 years I was in the Giants organization, to get traded is new -- to go out there and pitch for a new team for the first time ever is gonna be weird, then to look up and see a Giants uniform in the batters box will be something.”

Rogers flew to New York with the Giants before joining his new team. 

Though it’s a big change, the veteran is excited to join the NL East-leading Mets down the stretch. 

“Looking across the dugout a week ago, you could just tell this team is the complete package,” he said. “I’m very excited to be a part of it -- I’m just trying to slide in and do my part, whatever they need me to do.”

Rogers’ role will likely be similar to the one he played in San Fran. 

He’ll help bridge the gap to All-Star closer Edwin Diaz alongside other deadline acquisition Ryan Helsley in the revamped Mets bullpen. 

On the season, the 34-year-old has a 1.80 ERA and 0.86 WHIP across 53 appearances.

Heading into the All-Star Break, Tyler Rogers wasn’t expecting to be moved. 

The Giants were in the thick of things in the crowded NL Wild Card race, but they opened the second half of the season on an extreme cold stretch and quickly things changed.

The dagger was a three-game sweep at home against the Mets. 

After that, San Fran began looking more like obvious sellers heading towards the trade deadline, and then on Wednesday afternoon, the right-hander was shipped out to the Big Apple in a deal for three young pieces.  

“I spent so long in San Francisco, great people over there,” Rogers said. “I gave them everything I had, I can’t say enough about the people over there and the city, it’s where I got started and got drafted -- I just can’t say much more about them.” 

Ironically enough, it won’t take long for him to see his former club again.

His first outing in orange and blue will likely come against them this weekend, as the two teams face off in a three-game set at Citi Field. 

Once he does that, he’ll have an appearance against every team in his career. 

“Baseball is funny that way,” he said. “13 years I was in the Giants organization, to get traded is new -- to go out there and pitch for a new team for the first time ever is gonna be weird, then to look up and see a Giants uniform in the batters box will be something.”

Rogers flew to New York with the Giants before joining his new team. 

Though it’s a big change, the veteran is excited to join the NL East-leading Mets down the stretch. 

“Looking across the dugout a week ago, you could just tell this team is the complete package,” he said. “I’m very excited to be a part of it -- I’m just trying to slide in and do my part, whatever they need me to do.”

Rogers’ role will likely be similar to the one he played in San Fran. 

He’ll help bridge the gap to All-Star closer Edwin Diaz alongside other deadline acquisition Ryan Helsley in the revamped Mets bullpen. 

On the season, the 34-year-old has a 1.80 ERA and 0.86 WHIP across 53 appearances.