New York Yankees Rumors: Interest In Mike Leake Growing Stronger

Last week, fellow Yanks Go Yard staff writer Jason Evans reported that the Yankees had sent scouts out on a special assignment to watch Johnny Cueto and Mike Leake pitch for the Cincinnati Reds.

According to George King III of the New York Post, the Yankees have stepped up their scouting and increased their interest in Mike Leake. After having scout Jeff Datz watch Leake pitch last week over in Chicago, the Yankees sent another scout, Brandon Duckworth, over to Cincinnati Friday night to see the 27-year old right-hander face the Marlins at home.

How did he pitch?

Leake tossed seven scoreless innings, scattering just two hits while striking out seven en route to a 5-0 victory over a Miami Marlins team that took two games from the Yankees less than one week ago.

Similar to Johnny Cueto and many other pitchers that will be available during the trade deadline, Leake is eligible for free agency at the end of the season. In 14 games with a struggling Cincinnati team, he is a respectable 4-4 with a 4.35 ERA.

While Ivan Nova is on the verge of returning as early as next week, one might argue that the Yankees are stacked with starting pitching depth, but I believe they are certainly in the market and are desperately looking to acquire a starting pitcher to boost their rotation in the second half.

Masahiro Tanaka is still one awkward pitch away from disaster, Nathan Eovaldi is on the verge of giving up more hits than there are seats in Yankee stadium and who knows what to expect out of C.C. Sabathia moving forward.

Obviously Mike Leake isn’t nearly as good as Johnny Cueto, but he would cost a heck of a lot less to acquire. He’s only owed $9.8 million in his final year of arbitration with the Reds, so it’ll likely cost a package of low-end prospects or a midlevel prospect to acquire the right-hander. Also, his 52.4% ground ball rate certainly makes him a good fit in Yankee stadium.

The Yankees are probably looking at Leake to be a similar addition to Brandon McCarthy at last years trade deadline, where the Yankees give up a fair amount to acquire him, and hope a tweak or two from Larry Rothschild can vamp up his performance in the second half.

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