The San Francisco Giants may not have made the biggest trade of the 2015 deadline, but it sure looks like the perfect fit for them. The team acquired Cincinnati Reds pitcher Mike Leake for two prospects.*
#SFGiants acquire RHP Mike Leake from #Reds in exchange for minor league IF Adam Duvall, RHP Keury Mella
— San Francisco Giants (@SFGiants) July 31, 2015
The price for Leake was actually quite steep. Keury Mella was considered the Giants best pitching prospect, and he goes to the Reds for a rental player. The 21-year-old has a 3.31 ERA at High A this season.
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Adam Duvall is more of a throw in. At age-26, he's pretty old to still be in the minors. He already has 26 home runs, so he has a ton of power, but it's tough to consider a 26-year-old a true prospect.*
On the surface, that looks to be a significant get for the consistent, yet unspectacular Leake. Dig a little deeper, though, and it becomes pretty obvious why he's a great fit for the Giants.
For three seasons now, Leake has been a pretty solid workhorse. His end of season numbers don't blow you away, but he's quietly posted a 3.54 ERA over that period.*
Leake isn't an elite strikeout pitcher, but is able to produce value in other ways. He's fairly stingy with walks, and he does a great job keeping the ball on the ground. The lack of strikeouts prevent Leake from being a true ace, but plenty of pitchers have had success with his skill set.
That skill set, by the way, should play much better now that he'll be pitching in AT&T Park. One of Leake's other issues is that, since he doesn't have exceptional swing and miss stuff, when he gets hit, he gets hit hard.
That can lead to some high home run totals. Some of those issues were due to Leake pitching in one of the friendlier hitter's parks while he was in Cincinnati. According to Statcorner.com, Great American Ball Park has one of the highest home run park factors in the game. Basically, it's really easy to hit homers there. AT&T Park, on the other hand, is pretty stingy when it comes to dingers. That should help Leake immensely.*
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Leake isn't going to magically turn into an ace with his new club, but the switch in ballparks makes him a pretty nice fit. On top of that, it was clear the Giants needed a boost in the rotation.
Madison Bumgarner is great, and Chris Heston has been a nice surprise, but there are some questions behind those two. Tim Lincecum is currently on the disabled list, and there has been talk about him transitioning to the bullpen for weeks now.
Both Tim Hudson and Jake Peavy have shown signs of age this season. Peavy's 4.12 ERA isn't awful, but his strikeout rate has declined and he's giving up a fair amount of home runs. *The*team's 3.84 rotation ERA and 3.97 FIP don't look bad on the surface, but there is still a lot of risk in the rotation.

That's precisely what makes Leake a great addition for this club.*Leake's consistency and track record, gives the team a safe third option. You know what Leake will give you, and that it will be pretty good. Can the Giants say the same about Lincecum, Peavy or Hudson at this point?
It may have cost the team one of their top prospects, but Leake seems like the ideal fit for San Francisco.
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