The Mariners acquired right-hander Mike Leake from the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday for minor league infielder Rayder Ascanio as Seattle tries to bolster its beleaguered starting rotation during the AL wild-card race. St. Louis will send Seattle $17.5 million to cover a portion of the $55.6 million Leake is guaranteed during the remainder of an $80 million, five-year contract through 2020. "Obviously, we feel like Mike helps us walking in the door for 2017. He has a $15 million salary this year and is owed $17 million next season, $16 million in 2019 and $15 million in 2020. "And the way we viewed it is if Mike Leake is a 30-year-old free agent and we were able to achieve this deal with him we would feel comfortable signing him to that contract.

Source: ABC News August 30, 2017 16:14 UTC