Starting Pitcher Mike Leake will be heading to the west coast to play for the Mariners. On Wednesday, the Seattle Mariners swung a deal with the St. Louis Cardinals to add to their starting pitching by adding Mike Leake. He got off to a great start this season but has struggled in the month of August. He has allowed at least three runs in each start in August and has given up as much as eight runs. Leake is currently 7-12, 4.21 ERA, and has 103 strikeouts in 154 innings.
What this means for the Mariners
The Mariners find themselves 66-67 and currently on a four-game losing streak, but are just three games back in the Wildcard race.
They have a few teams ahead of them in the race, such as the second Wildcard team in the Twins, the Angels, and the Orioles, however.
Of course, this move also shows that although the Mariners have had many injuries to their pitching this season, they are not going to let the season slip away. Starting pitchers Felix Hernandez, James Paxton, Hisashi Iwakuma, and Drew Smyly who hasn't pitched in 2017 are all on the disabled list. It is pretty impressive with what the Mariners have accomplished this season.
The acquisition of Leake also shows they are preparing for the future. He is under contract for the next three-years for $55 million, but the Cardinals will send $17 million to the Mariners, according to Ken Rosenthal.
#STLCards sending #Mariners about $17M in Leake trade over a multi-year period, source tells The Athletic. Leake owed about $55M total.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 30, 2017
What this means for the Cardinals
The Cardinals actually have a winning record at 66-65, but their road to the playoffs is far tougher than for the Mariners in the AL.
They are currently five games behind the Cubs for first place in the NL Central and 5.5 games behind the Rockies for the second Wildcard.
It seems as if trading Leake was more of a move to plan for the future for the Cardinals. Yes, they are still sending $17 million to the Mariners, but are going to be off the hook for the other $38 million that will be owed to Leake over the next few years.
Freeing up that space gives the Cardinals the opportunity to spend it else where. Perhaps they are gearing up for a big move. Maybe they will use that extra money and put it towards snagging another Cub like Jake Arrieta like they did last offseason signing Dexter Fowler. The Cards have also been one of the teams that have contacted the Marlins about Giancarlo Stanton and could potentially be setting up to trade for him.
The Cardinals could be a team to watch this offseason. They are going to need to make some big moves to get back to the postseason in 2018.
