Details remain sparse, but it seems the Diamondbacks and Mariners nearly lined up on a trade involving veteran Seattle right-hander Mike Leake. According to Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times, the teams “worked to finalize” the swap as late as Tuesday evening.
Clearly, talks fell through since Leake ended up on the bump. He says that he never caught wind of the possible deal, which certainly is notable given that he possesses full no-trade protection. Leake added that he’s willing to consider approving a deal in the right circumstances.
It seems quite likely Leake will at some point have an opportunity to consider approving a move. With the Mariners trying to move more veteran assets after already shipping out Jay Bruce, it’s not surprising to hear that the club went down the line on a swap involving the expensive pitcher.
Leake, 31, has managed to deliver 81 2/3 innings of 4.30 ERA ball this year despite some worrying peripherals. He has averaged 6.2 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9 but has already surrendered 18 home runs. That said, Leake’s start last night was awfully impressive. He worked a 119-pitch complete game while allowing just one earned run.
While the Diamondbacks are obviously interested in adding Leake or another veteran starter to bolster their staff, it’s hard to imagine they’d take on anything close to his remaining contract. Leake is earning $16MM this year, $15MM in 2020, and a $5MM buyout for a 2021 mutual option. The Cardinals are on the hook for $5MM this year and $4MM next, but it’s still a hefty commitment. It’s not clear whether the Arizona organization remains a potential landing spot for Leake.
Didnt leake want to be in Arizona before signing with st Louis since his father was in Arizona?
Yes. You are right.
He went to The Arizona State University, would be a nice reunion.
The deal probably didn’t happen because of that salary note. I would assume Seattle wanted to either get a prospect to take on most of his salary or get a godley for a salary dump of Leake.
Mike Leake has posted 4.1 bWAR and 3.7 fWAR, valued at $29.7 million, in 49 starts with the Seattle Mariners.
link to fangraphs.com
With a net $21 million remaining on his contract through 2020, Leake is probably an undervalued innings-eater.
His FIP is 5.31 meaning he is worse than mediocre like is ERA+ of 100 implies. So THIS years 1.5 WAR is based on good fortune for Leake.
The high FIP just means he is a pitch to contact pitcher. For his entire career, he has consistently had a smaller ERA than FIP. And the ERA+ of 100 does not imply mediocrity, it implies an average big league starter. He’s not a #1 or a #2 starter, but he could be a decent 3/4/5.
Muskie-Probably not.No way he could get this kind of money now.
As a DBacks fan, I actually hope this happens. Mariners have been public about their willingness to eat salary in trades, and Arizona needs innings from their starters. Greinke is a Cy Young candidate, but the rest of the rotation has question marks after Weaver’s injury. No one expects Leake to be a huge upgrade, but at least he would bring some veteran stability, and shouldn’t cost much to acquire
“Mike, we’re not paying you 36 million. Rather, there are two teams paying you 10 million each to pitch against them.”
….. that’s how much those teams want to face you.
The Cardinals, who need a 5th starter and are already paying Leake $9 million should trade for him. Mariners can take on enough salary to bring the “new” Cardinal financial commitment under $5 million in 2020. Cardinals get a solid innings eater this year and next for under $10 million annually in new money.
Not surprising that news of this possible trade leaked.
I like it, very punny.
Mike drop
I see what you did there.
Arizona Receives: Mike Leake plus $12 million from Seattle and the $9 million from St. Louis.
Seattle Receives: Jake Lamb and Domingo Leyba.
AZ isn’t that desperate to save money.
Ha! Jake Lamb hasn’t produced since 2017 but he would be a decent plug and play for Seager until they trade him and he is a local boy.
Also, Domingo Leyba is a low end prospect (#24 according the MLB Pipeline) but he is having a decent year in AAA and could be somewhat interesting to see what he’s got.
Leake gets to go home for 2 years and eat up important innings while keeping his team in the game 4 out of 5 starts. Ends up Arizona pays him $4 or $5 million per year plus the buyout.
Jake lamb has very little value. He’s owed ~4.5 MM this year and probably the same if not a slight bump next. He can’t hit left handers at all so in the best case scenario he’s a heavy side platoon guy. For 5 MM bucks and rising that’s not real cheap either. To pay down leake’s salary and only have to toss in a fringe prospect that deal is certainly fair.
Pirates should swing a deal for Leake and Tim Beckham. Newman probably needs to play every day but Beckham/Frazier/Newman can take turns in the infield and take pressure off each of them.
Just offer up a half decent prospect and pay half of Leake’s salary.
I’d take Mason Martin