St. Louis Cardinals: Cardinals receive INF Rayder Ascanio for Mike Leake

The St. Louis Cardinals received INF Rayder Ascanio from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for Mike Leake and international pool money.

After the deal was finalized, many of us awaited what the return would be for the St. Louis Cardinals after trading Mike Leake to the Seattle Mariners. Not too long after the news broke, we finally got word of what the Cardinals received and which direction they were headed.

The St. Louis Cardinals announced, via their Twitter and Facebook pages, the full details of the trade involving Mike Leake. As it stands, the Cardinals traded Mike Leake and $750,000 in international cap space for infielder Rayder Ascanio. The announcement by the Cardinals does not specify any dollar figures for Leake’s remaining contract. However, the Seattle Times reports the Cardinals will pay $3 million annually for the portions remaining on Leake’s contract.

The trade was not possible without Leake waiving his no trade clause. The Seattle Mariners’ spring training facility is in Arizona, where Leake’s family lives.

The St. Louis Cardinals’ newest infielder will report to Class-A Palm Beach. This season, Ascanio is hitting .217 with nine home runs and forty-seven RBI. He split time between two different levels this season, High-A and Low-A.

According to Kyle Glaser of Baseball America, Ascanio is a “defensive whiz with a light bat.” Like most prospects, Ascanio is still maturing into his body. At 21-years-old, Ascanio is still developing the tools necessary to make into the big leagues. While the Cardinals have a good amount of infielders in their farm system, showing a priority on defense is never a bad thing.

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However, acquiring a defensive shortstop does raise some questions.

Those questions will most likely be answered here in the off-season, but only time will tell.

The other thing the St. Louis Cardinals “received” was the opportunity to free up cap space. Here is where the real guessing games begin, but Dr. Miles and I are going to collaborate on what we think may happen with this.

Until then, earlier I said the Cardinals will be paying about $3 million a year on the remaining years of Leake’s salary.

How the Cardinals were able to get free of that much money on Leake’s contract, I don’t know, but it’s clear this will be a good move for the team in the long run.

Next: Cardinals trade Mike Leake

The St. Louis Cardinals will need to fill in a roster spot in Leake’s absence. Lookout for more news when that move is announced.