Farewell, Mike Leake - A Hunt and Peck

On Wednesday news broke that the Cardinals had traded Mike Leake and cash to the Mariners in return for minor leaguer Rayder Ascanio. The trade was a bit of a surprise, Tommy Pham summing it up the best in his now-famous bluntness in an interview with the St. Louis Post Dispatch's Rick Hummel:

Outfielder Tommy Pham said he was very surprised when he saw the news rolling across the screen on the television. “I said, ‘Is this a joke?” said Pham. “April Fool’s was months ago. It was shocking to all of us.

But surprise or not, it is what it is and for nearly two seasons wearing the Birds on the Bat Mike Leake was... well Mike Leake eating 330.2 innings and accumulating 4.4 fWAR during that time. While his time on the Cardinals was not spectacular, it was still good, and for that, in addition to gracing up with his beautiful golden tendrils, we thank him.

And with that, here are some of his best Cardinal moments.

Goodbye Mike. Good luck in Seattle!

'Is this a joke?' Leake trade underwhelms Cards teammates | St. Louis Cardinals | stltoday.com

what else is going on in baseball...

• Stephen Strasburg, Nationals sweep Marlins | MLB.com
• Giancarlo Stanton is making hitting look easy. | Sports on Earth
• Robbie Ray leads D-backs to win vs. Dodgers | MLB.com
• What are the most valuable players based on contracts? | Sports on Earth
• There's nothing quite like playoff races in September. | Sports on Earth
• Albert Pujols and the other MLB teams that tried to sign him | SBNation.com

what the cardinals are up to...

• Lance Lynn Doesn't Sound Happy With the Cardinals, But Who Knows? | 101Sports.com
• Insider Thinks Lance Lynn's Accepted He Won't Be a Cardinal Next Season | 101Sports.com

KNOW THINE ENEMY...

the san francisco giants

• A San Francisco Giants Community | McCovey Chronicles

the nl central

• Javier Baez, Ian Happ lead Cubs past Pirates | MLB.com
• Kris Bryant is the first Cubs ever with 25 home runs or more in first three seasons | SBNation.com
• Homers, Broxton's catch lift Brewers to win | MLB.com
• This Brewers season has been fun to watch. | Sports on Earth

viva el stuff...

• VEB Podcast #95: Hail hail Tommy Pham | Viva El Birdos

other things...

• Sports on Earth's 2017 college football preview. | Sports on Earth
• NFL Season Preview 2017 | SBNation.com
• Colin Kaepernick’s film shows there is no excuse for him to be unemployed | SBNation.com

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