St. Louis Cardinals agree to terms with Mike Leake on five-year deal

The St. Louis Cardinals have agreed to sign free agent starting pitcher Mike Leake, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The deal, which is contingent on a physical, is for five years and $80 million with a mutual option that could raise its value to $93-94 million. Leake will also receive a full no-trade clause.

The Cardinals were in need of a new rotation arm, especially after losing John Lackey to the Cubs. Though the upper-echelon starters have since all signed, a variety of mid-level options were still available. St. Louis evidently made Leake its choice.

The right-hander, who turned 28 last month, posted a 3.70 ERA this year across stints with the Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants. Leake struggled a bit to find his footing with the Giants after being traded there prior to the deadline.

He pitched to a 4.86 ERA in his first eight starts with San Francisco but managed to finish his campaign on a major high note, tossing a two-hit complete game shutout against the Dodgers in his final outing of the year on September 30.

Overall, Leake sports a 3.88 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 2.65 K/BB ratio over his six seasons in the big leagues. He’s been fairly durable, making at least 30 trips to the mound in each of the last four years.

Advanced metrics paint Leake as a league average pitcher for the most part. He owns a 101 ERA+ over his six-year career. He allows more than a hit per inning (9.2 H/9 in his career) and doesn’t rack up many strikeouts (6.1 K/9), but he limits walks fairly well (2.3 BB/9) and generates a lot of groundballs (52.6 GB% over the last two seasons).

It’s also worth taking into account that Leake has spent most of his professional life pitching in the bandbox that is Great American Ball Park. Busch Stadium is typically much more forgiving toward hurlers, and Leake does own a 3.19 ERA in six career starts there. ESPN’s Buster Olney also points out that he had good numbers against the division rival Cubs last year. That success wasn’t limited to just 2015: Leake owns a 3.15 ERA in 19 outings against Chicago in his career.

Next: Pirates acquire Kyle Lobstein

The Cards presumably feel that Leake can be a solid middle-of-the-rotation starter for them. St. Louis already boasts a handful of impressive young starting pitchers like Michael Wacha and Carlos Martinez, and they will be hoping for an injury-free season from veteran Adam Wainwright as well.

With Leake now off the board, similarly-profiled free agent pitchers like Wei-Yin Chen and Scott Kazmir could soon follow.