Here are the latest tidbits on free agent starter Mike Leake (who has also recently been connected to the Giants, as well as to the Cardinals and Diamondbacks, who are discussed below).
- The Cardinals, who have lost Lance Lynn to Tommy John surgery and John Lackey to the Cubs, are seriously considering Leake, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman writes. In addition to David Price and Jeff Samardzija, the Cardinals also “tried hard” to sign Lackey. It appears, then, that they’ll have ample room in their budget to sign Leake if they make him a priority.
- The Diamondbacks, however, could have the edge on signing Leake if they can make a strong offer, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal tweets. Leake lives near Phoenix and would like to stay there if possible. There is reportedly mutual interest between Leake and the Diamondbacks.
mattsmattedin
Forget it, the Cardinals are getting shut out on everyone this offseason. Book it.
Wrian Washman
How do you think the Dodgers feel
TJECK109
Welcome to the typical off season for a fan of a small market team.
A'sfaninUK
Yeah, lucky STL gets the same profit sharing and draft position as the Rays and A’s, all 3 orgs are totally in the same position as each other. smh
Cards will probably get Heyward too, I hate how often STL fans cry poor when there’s teams way way worse off than they are.
RedsNut1967
Like my long time love, the Reds. Sooooo jealous of St. Louis. Envious.
Philliesfan4life
the dodgers are going to have to outbid everyone for cueto
jd396
Oh no
ammiel
I think the dodgers will be much more creative in finding a starting pitcher than just signing the perceived highest ranked free agent.
mattsmattedin
The Dodgers have an astronomical payroll and they WILL sign multiple pitchers and a high quality bat, because WHY NOT? Cueto + more for the Dodgers.
sorayablue
Like the Lakers.
R.D.
Looks like they’ll end up with kazmir. Which may be a blessing in disguise.
Either way, they still have a good rotation with wainwright/wacha/cmart.
Philliesfan4life
they have wainwright coming back healthy next year which is a key, but they lost lackey to the cubs, that was a big loss for them
mattsmattedin
Waino healthy but coming off of a injury
Martinez was shut down due to his shoulder late in the year
Wacha has his serious potentially recurring injury (for the rest of his career)
Garcia loves to be injured (or not) and lie about it one way or the other to management
And yes, Lackey is gone.
stl_cards16 2
Wainwright’s injury was probably good for the future of his elbow/shoulder. He had thrown a ton of innings the previous 3 seasons. Look for him to be strong in 2016.
Philliesfan4life
I look for Wainwright to have another cy young type season
New Law Era
Ditto. I was literally typing the exact same thing.
They will watch his innings though. Same with the others in the rotation. Look for a lot of minor league call ups and a lot of bullpen use in 2016.
mattsmattedin
I hope so.
mattsmattedin
I would be happy for that, I just want to see it announced/finalized.
stl_cards16 2
You must have forgotten about the big Brayan Pena signing.
mattsmattedin
I already have. I apologize – hopefully he will have as much impact as Ty Wigginton had.
Cletis
I totally agree that the Cardinals will be shut out. They’ll be picking up the scraps as usual. That’s “the Mozelack way!”
Stromalama
Doubtful.
Matt Carpenter's Eyebrows
Mozeliak is killing me. If they’re going to scrape the bottom of the barrel for Leake just go with Lyons/Cooney/Gonzales more upside and less money.
Monty725
Dodgers, Dodgers, Dodger…
Do all the Dodger fans have a Jan Brady complex? Marcia, Marcia, Marcia…
Maybe they should make some trades.
Voice of Reason
Leake is a #4 starter. Not worth what he is reported to be asking for.
A'sfaninUK
Speaking as a baseball fan, I’d love to see Leake, one of the rarest of the rare things in baseball, a pitcher that can it, play half his games in a hitters park like AZ. Ideally I’d like to see him in Colorado for that reason, but AZ is pretty good too.
kman5000
He’s way overpriced, though. Should get about half of what he is seeking.
Monty725
He’s going to the Jays. He will be our 3/4 this year. I’m guessing $45/3 years or 60 for 4. Either Leake/Kennedy/Kaz. All similar
sigurd 2
There is no way Leake gets that little. Hes the youngest FA pitcher of the bunch. He will get something like 5/80 at the minimum.
mbgutt
Why not Pittsburgh? Why won’t Pittsburgh spend while they still can compete?
brandonmarin
Dbacks signing leake would also allow them to move de la rosa to the bullpen. 2 problems solved
cardfan2011
I like how they say St. Louis has all this money to spend, and they still haven’t yet lol. Price was the closest, but thats it (so far)
michaelw
You got that Matt lol – Cards are in trouble.
Gardner_012
The Dodgers should sign cueto, o don’t think he’s able to pitch in the AL given his struggles, the cardinals won’t get anyone and if they do they should get leake, and maybe Henderson Alvarez, the Diamondbacks if losing out on leake should reach to get Gallardo, Chen or Iwakuma
rayanselmo
I’d love it if the Cards or D-backs paid 5y/$80M or so for a career league-average SP. As a Giants fan, I mean.