Mike Leake has a new home. Early Tuesday morning, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported that Leake had reached an agreement on a deal with the St. Louis Cardinals. Rosenthal later updated that report with the details on Leake’s new contract. It is for five years, and is worth $80 million. It includes a mutual option that could increase the value of the contract up to $94 million, and includes a full no-trade clause.
Leake began his major league career in 2010 with the Cincinatti Reds. His best season with the team came in 2013. That year, Leake won fourteen games and recorded 122 strikeouts compared to just forty-eight walks. His 3.0 WAR that year was the highest of his career, and his 3.37 ERA marked the lowest of his career.
On July 31st, just before last season’s trade deadline, the San Francisco Giants acquired Leake from the Reds in exchange for pitching prospect Keury Mella and minor leaguer Adam Duvall. The Giants were attempting to keep pace with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who had just completed a thirteen-player mega-deal. Though Leake was having another very solid year with the Reds prior to the trade (he was 9-5, and his 1.15 WHIP would have been a career-low had the season ended then), he regressed after moving to the NL West. With San Francisco, Leake saw his walk rate increase drastically, leading to a 2-5 record and a 4.07 ERA in just 55.1 innings pitched.
The Cardinals are certainly banking on Leake rediscovering the form he displayed during his tenure with the Reds. However, this does seem to potentially be a fairly low-risk, high-reward type of deal compared to the contracts that have been given to players like Jeff Samardzija. With that in mind, St. Louis may have gotten what passes for a steal these days thanks to Leake’s sub-par performace in San Francisco.
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