Cincinnati and Mike Leake have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $3.06 million contract.
Leake was arbitration eligible for the first time after throwing 179 innings with a 4.58 ERA and 116/41 K/BB ratio last season and requested $3.5 million while the Reds countered at $2.65 million.
Leake was the eighth overall pick in the 2009 draft and arrived with a lot of hype in 2010, but through 485 career innings he has a 4.23 ERA and just 6.0 strikeouts per nine frames. He’s also still just 25 years old, but Leake is a year away from getting expensive and two years away from free agency.
