Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports that the Nationals have made an offer to free agent right-hander Mike Leake and “are pushing for a deal.”
There was some speculation that Leake might end up in Arizona, but the Diamondbacks instead paid a premium to get right-hander Shelby Miller from the Braves and are now out of the free agent starter market. Re-signing with the Giants is another option that’s been mentioned in various reports.
Washington makes sense as a landing spot for Leake, in part because the Nationals lost right-hander Jordan Zimmermann to free agency and in part because new manager Dusty Baker managed Leake with the Reds from 2010-2013.
No word yet on the money being offered, but something in the range of the five-year, $90 million deal right-hander Jeff Samardzija signed with the Giants would seemingly make sense.