The Arizona Diamondbacks have offered right-handed starting pitcher Mike Leake a five-year deal, although it is unknown if it is still on the table after the team signed Zack Greinke, according to a league source.
Arizona surprisingly joined the Greinke sweepstakes late in the process and were able to land him on a six-year mega-deal, as written here.
As reported in early November by BaseballEssential, the Diamondbacks have significant interest in signing Leake, who attended Arizona State University.
Unlike Greinke, signing Leake wouldn’t require the Diamondbacks to part with a draft pick since he was traded by the Cincinnati Reds during the season.
Leake, 28, is still of interest to the Diamondbacks even after signing Greinke, according to Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com.
Adding Leake to a rotation that features Greinke and Patrick Corbon would make a ton of sense for the Diamondbacks. Continuing to build a strong rotation to go along with their stellar offense not only makes them a threat to the NL West, but to the entire league.
Leake was acquired by the San Francisco Giants at the trade deadline and the team had yet to talk to the veteran right-hander about a contract since Greinke was their number one option, per Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. With Greinke off the board, it’s a safe bet that they’ll reach out to Leake’s agent.
In 30 games pitched with the Reds and Giants last season, Leake went 11-10 with a 3.70 ERA and a 119/49 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
The offseason has begun to heat up and with the Winter Meetings only a few days away, it should continue to get hotter. Stay tuned.
Follow Robert Murray on Twitter: @RobertMurrayBBE
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