The Seattle Mariners had a real photo finish at Wednesday’s trade deadline.
General manager Jerry Dipoto told the media that his team hit send on a deal sending righty Mike Leake to the Arizona Diamondbacks with just 68 seconds left to go before the 1 PM PST deadline, per Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times.
Leake, who went 9-8 with a 4.40 ERA in 22 starts for the Mariners this year, attended school at Arizona State, so the move to the D-backs is fitting. There, he figures to fill the lead right-hander role vacated by All-Star pitcher Zack Greinke’s trade to the Houston Astros.
These types of franchise-changing decisions can really come down to the wire though, as this other professional team can attest to.
