Major League Baseball trade rumors: Cardinals sending Mike Leake to Mariners

Looking to make a move in the American League wild card race, the Seattle Mariners have acquired starting pitcher Mike Leake from the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Mariners also get cash and global slot money in the deal, while minor league infielder Rayder Ascanio is heading to St. Louis. He has a career batting average of.240 with 15 home runs and 158 RBIs in 425 minor league games.

The Cardinals will need to add a player to the 25-man active roster. That transaction is expected to be announced tomorrow.

Leake, who waived his no-trade clause to complete the deal, has a 4.21 ERA and 1.325 WHIP in 26 starts this season.

The Cardinals have reportedly traded the right-hander to the Seattle Mariners on Wednesdays, according to multiple national reports.

Leake has made 30 or more starts in a season six times and has averaged nearly 200 innings pitched per season in his career. He went 16-24 with a 4.46 ERA in his 56 starts for the Cardinals after signing as a free agent in December of 2015. He has $55 million left on his contract.

Leake is owed at least $48 million over the next three seasons, in addition to about $2 million for the rest of this year. And once you've pulled him back then you can't trade him for the rest of the month. But he has struggled since the All-Star break, going 1-5 with a 6.90 ERA in nine starts since July 14.

The St. Louis Cardinals have not yet confirmed the reports, first announced on Twitter by Bob Nightengale of USA Today and Ken Rosenthal of Major League Baseball on Fox.

The Cardinals are 66-65 and 5½ games out of first place in the NL Central Division. The Cardinals were 7-20 in these starts.