The St. Louis Cardinals have agreed to sign right-handed pitcher Mike Leake, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The deal is pending a physical.
Chris Cotillo of SB Nation first reported that Leake was close with St. Louis. Rosenthal reports that Leake's deal is a five-year, $80 million deal with an option that could push the total guarantee to $93 or $94 million. Rosenthal also reports that Leake's deal includes a no-trade clause. The 28-year-old Leake was one of the top remaining starting pitchers on the free agent market and would make a lot of sense for the Cardinals, considering they lost John Lackey in free agency and Lance Lynn to Tommy John surgery. As of now, the Cardinals' rotation looks much more formidable with the inclusion of Leake. Adam Wainwright, Carlos Martinez, Jaime Garcia, and Michael Wacha are the other four starters on the St. Louis staff. The team had been in pursuit of the top starters on the free agent market, most notably David Price, but had fallen short on getting a deal done. St. Louis GM John Mozeliak then went on-the-record and said that he did not expect any "dynamic signings" the rest of the offseason. Leake may not be considered "dynamic," but he definitely fits the Cardinals' needs and overall makeup. Leake does not post eye-popping numbers on the mound, though he has shown to be reliable over the course of his career. In 2015, he went 11-10 with a 3.70 ERA and a 119 to 49 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 192 innings with both the Reds and Giants. According to FanGraphs, he was worth 1.7 Wins Above Replacement. Leake is a great ground ball pitcher, which will play well in Busch Stadium, considered a hitter's park. Leake ranked 15th in the Majors with a 51.8% ground ball rate, ahead of the likes of Clayton Kershaw and Gerrit Cole. In Leake, the Cardinals will be getting a consistent, durable starter to be a solid mid-rotation piece. In six seasons in the Majors, Leake has a 3.88 ERA and a 730 to 275 strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.65 K/BB) in 1083 2/3 innings. At $16 million per season, Leake will not make as much money as sone of his starting pitcher counterparts, as he ties Lackey in annual average value, but falls behind Jeff Samardzija, who made $18 million a season. Leake was also untied to draft pick compensation. --Devan Fink
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The St. Louis Cardinals have had trade talks with the Tampa Bay Rays aimed at a starting pitcher, Jon Morosi of FOX Sports reports.
Morosi goes on to explain that Jake Odorizzi is from the St. Louis area, but does not mention whether the talks are surrounding the right-hander. It is known, however, that the Rays are in discussions with the Dodgers over Odorizzi as well, so St. Louis could be involved in similar trade talks. The Cardinals are in the need for a starter. John Lackey went to the Cubs in free agency and Lance Lynn is out for the season after having Tommy John surgery. As it stands, their rotation includes Adam Wainwright, Carlos Martinez, Jaime Garcia, Michael Wacha, and Marco Gonzalez. It is obvious that they could use some depth in their rotation and Odorizzi, if he is involved in discussions, would be a huge upgrade. Odorizzi, who turns 26 in March, went 9-9 with a 3.35 ERA and a 150 to 46 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 169 1/3 innings pitched. According to FanGraphs, Odorizzi posted a 3.61 FIP, 3.96 xFIP, and a 2.9 Wins Above Replacement. --Devan Fink
The St. Louis Cardinals announced the re-signing of right-hander Jonathan Broxton to a two-year deal Thursday afternoon. The deal was first reported by Tom Ackerman of KMOX in St. Louis.
A league source told Cover Those Bases that Broxton will make $7.5 million over his two-year pact, which includes a full no-trade clause. Broxton would have final approval over any deal if St. Louis considered trading him. The 31-year-old Broxton has been in the Major Leagues since 2005 and has pitched in a back-end relief role throughout his career, briefly serving as closer with the Dodgers in 2009 and 2010. He was named a National League All-Star both years. Broxton pitched with the Brewers and Cardinals in 2015, as he was dealt to St. Louis at the trade deadline. Overall, he went 4-5 with a 4.62 ERA (3.65 FIP) in 60 1/3 innings pitched between the clubs. He was much better with the Cardinals, when he posted a 2.66 ERA (3.56 FIP), a 9.9 K/9 ratio, and a 4.6 BB/9 ratio in 23 2/3 innings. Relief pitching has been quite expensive this offseason, with Darren O'Day leading the pack after signing a $31 million deal. While Broxton is not of O'Day's caliber anymore, he still did well, considering his age and performance in 2015. --Devan Fink Major League Baseball organizations had until today at 5 PM eastern to offer their impending free agents qualifying offers.
A qualifying offer is a one-year, $15.8 million deal, which is the average of the top 125 one-year salaries in the game. Any impending free agent can be offered a qualifying offer, however, that player must have spent the entire season with the organization that is offering them the deal (i.e. traded players like Johnny Cueto cannot be offered a qualifying offer). If the player accepts the qualifying offer, they are basically re-signing with their former club to a one-year, $15.8 million deal. If the player rejects the qualifying offer, they become a free agent as scheduled. However, if they sign with a different team, then their original team (the team they are coming from) will receive an extra first round draft pick at the end of the first round. The team that signs the player loses their first round pick, as long as they are not within the top 10 in the draft order (which in that case, they would lose their second round pick). In the three-year history of the qualifying offer, no player has accepted the deal. An MLB-record 20 players were offered a qualifying offer today. They have one week to make a decision whether they want to accept or decline the deal:
--Devan Fink
The St. Louis Cardinals will exercise Jaime Garcia's 2016 team option, Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
Garcia will make $11.5 million next season. If the Cardinals declined the option, they would have had to pay a $500,000 buyout. By exercising this option, the Cardinals now have a $12 million team option for 2017, again with a $500,000 buyout. The 29-year-old Garcia proved his worth this past season. After not making 20+ starts since 2012 due to injuries, Garcia went out and pitched 129 2/3 innings with a 2.43 ERA and 3.00 FIP, as well as a 97 to 30 strikeout-to-walk ratio in exactly 20 outings. Garcia has had trouble staying healthy over the course of his career, having a lot of issues with his shoulder in recent years, including shoulder surgery in 2013. When he is on the field, he has been good, posting a career 3.31 ERA in seven years. With Garcia's option being exercised, the Cardinals now have $103.5 million in guaranteed contracts out to nine players for the 2016 season. Baseball-Reference estimates their total payroll to be $145.8 million, which would be a slight increase from this season. --Devan Fink |
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