Reds trade Mike Leake to Giants
The Reds continued their stockpiling of young pitching early Friday morning when the team traded impending free agent Mike Leake to the Giants for two prospects, including San Francisco's top prospect.
The Reds received right-hander Keury Mella and 1B/3B Adam Duvall in the deal that sends the 27-year-old starter back to his home state of California.
The deal was announced after midnight on Friday morning, shortly after the conclusion of the Reds' 15-5 victory over the Pirates and before Friday's 4 p.m. non-waiver trade deadline.
Walt Jocketty has already traded Johnny Cueto for three left-handed pitchers and now added a right-hander in Mella. Jocketty may not be done.
The Reds are still in negotiations with the Mets in a deal that revolves around outfielder Jay Bruce and New York right-hander Zack Wheeler. The Diamondbacks and other teams are also interested in closer Aroldis Chapman.
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Neither Bruce nor Chapman is a free agent after this season, so it isn't as important to move them now. However, everyone knew the Reds had to trade Cueto and Leake or risk losing them for nothing and Jocketty has still gotten a good return.
Several scouts told the Enquirer they have been impressed with the pitchers the Reds have gotten in return for the pair, including not only Mella, but also Brandon Finnegan, John Lamb and Cody Reed.
With Leake and Cueto gone, the Reds only have rookies in their starting rotation with Michael Lorenzen, Raisel Iglesias, Anthony DeSclafani and Thursday's starter, David Holmberg.
With Homer Bailey out for the season, the Reds will now likely have to dip back into the minor leagues for another starter. Leake was scheduled to start Sunday's series finale against the Pirates.
The Reds' top prospect, right-hander Robert Stephenson, started Tuesday for Louisville. Since being promoted from Louisville, Stephenson is 4-0 with a 2.40 ERA in five starts.
Leake's trade ends his tenure with the Reds that started when he was drafted in the first round (8th overall) of the 2009 draft and then earned a spot in the rotation out of spring training in 2010.
Leake is 9-5 with a 3.56 ERA in 21 starts for the Reds this season - with just 14 home runs allowed in 136 2/3 innings - and 62-47 with a 3.87 ERA in parts of six seasons.
In his last five starts, Leake's gone 4-1 with a 1.25 ERA, including a victory over the Cardinals on Tuesday in what could end up being his final game as a Red. Leake went eight scoreless innings and allowed just four hits, before ceding to Chapman in the ninth.
In 2014, Leake posted a 3.70 ERA while throwing a career-high 214 1/3 innings. His strikeouts/9 ratio was a career-best 6.9.
He also won a single-season high 14 games in 2013 (against just seven losses) while posting a 3.37 ERA.
Mella, 21, is 5-3 with a 3.31 ERA in 16 starts at high-A San Jose. Baseball America ranked Mella as the team's No. 4 prospect before the season and MLBPipeline.com recently updated their list with Mella topping it.
Duvall, 26, made his MLB debut last season and homered off of Leake in his first game. He is hitting .279/.323/.548 with 26 home runs for Triple-A Sacramento this season.
A Louisville native, Duvall was an 11th round pick by the Giants in the 2010 draft after his senior year at U of L. He was rated the team's No. 25 prospect by MLBPipeline.com.
On May 1, it appeared that Leake would be attractive on the free-agent market.
With all the focus on Johnny Cueto, Homer Bailey and Aroldis Chapman, it seems like Mike Leake can often be overlooked.
Reds manager Bryan Price said that if that's the case, it won't be for long.
"They won't at the end of this year," Price said when asked if Leake is sometimes overlooked and underrated. "Because if he's not signed here to an extension, he'll be on the free-agent market and those who are coveting starting pitching, they'll see a nice stud pitcher. But hopefully he's here with us for a long time."
Leake put up another great performance on Thursday in Atlanta. He gave up hits in the first and second innings and none after that. No Brave reached second base in his eight innings, and the only player that reached base after the second was thrown out.
Once again, it was an effective, efficient performance from Leake.
The thing about Leake is he doesn't wow you with radar-gun readings, but he does everything well. That's not something to take for granted.
From March:Leake is a lot like Arroyo – reliable, competitive