St. Louis fills hole in rotation signing right-hander Mike Leake

The St. Louis Cardinals finally have something to celebrate.

After being eliminated from the playoffs by their bitter rival the Chicago Cubs, then losing two members of last season’s team — John Lackey and Jason Heyward — to the Cubs in free agency and also missing out on David Price, the Cardinals have reportedly signed free-agent pitcher Mike Leake.

[Hot Stove Digest: Everybody loves Scott Kazmir]

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports first reported the deal as complete pending a physical, but the Cardinals have not confirmed it. The reported value of the contract is $80 million over five years. Rosenthal reports it also includes an option for a sixth year and no-trade clause.

The Cardinals are expected to announce the deal Tuesday afternoon pending a physical.

Leake is expected to join a rotation that includes Adam Wainwright, Carlos Martinez, Michael Wacha and Jaime Garcia. With Lance Lynn set to miss the season with Tommy John surgery, Leake gives them a suitable replacement and sets them up for the future.

[This Seattle Mariners video will get you in the holiday spirit]

Leake is 28 and a native of Arizona and was previously rumored to be on the verge of signing with the Diamondbacks this offseason, but that deal failed to materialize as Arizona ultimately invested in a trade to land Shelby Miller and signing free agent Zack Greinke.

Leake has spent the bulk of his career with Cincinnati but was traded to San Francisco last season. He went 11-10 in 2015 between the two clubs, pitching 192 innings with a 3.70 ERA and 119 strikeouts.

More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:

Grandstanding: A Yahoo Sports podcast
Subscribe via iTunes or via RSS feed

– – – – – – –

Kyle Ringo is a contributing writer to Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo