Cardinals, RHP Leake agree to deal

Starting pitcher Mike Leake is in St. Louis for a physical and the Cardinals are planning a 2 p.m. CT news conference on Tuesday to announce his signing.

Leake deal with #STLCards is for five years with an option and includes a full no-trade clause.

Leake, who spent the first six years of his career with the Cincinnati Reds before being dealt to the San Francisco Giants last August, had been one of the most roundly courted free agents thus far this winter. The six-year veteran has a reputation as an innings eater, reaching 30 starts for each of the last four seasons, and throwing at least 192 innings in each of the last three years. The Cardinals made an offer to Leake last week and had been awaiting a decision, a baseball source told ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick.

David Price, Zack Greinke, Johnny Cueto and Jordan Zimmermann all have come to terms, so Leake would be the next free-agent pitching domino to fall.

Leake is final piece in the anticipated Cardinal starting staff, which features a pair of 2015 All-Stars in Michael Wacha and Carlos Martinez, as well as left-hander Jaime Garcia.

Leake, now 28, was picked by the Reds in the first round out of Arizona State in 2009, the eighth overall pick in the draft.

He’s 64-52 with a 3.88 ERA in 177 big-league appearances, all but five of them starts.