Cincinnati Reds pitcher Mike Leake was busted after allegedly attempting to shoplift $59.88 worth of shirts from a downtown Cincinnati Macy’s department store. Leake said in a statement released by the Reds that his attorney told him not to discuss the arrest. Leake apologized to his family, to the club and to fans “for this distraction.”

Cincinnati Reds management issued a statement saying, “We do not condone behavior of the type alleged, which is wholly inconsistent with the principles of this organization and our community and is detrimental to the positive direction we seek to follow. When the legal process has been completed, we will handle this matter internally.”

Leake was the eighth overall pick in June 2009 and he made the jump directly from Arizona State to the majors last spring. He was the 21st player who went right from the draft to the majors since 1965 and is the first starting pitcher to accomplish the feat since Jim Abbott of the California Angels did it in 1989.

Leake contract with the Cincinnati Reds is for $425,000 in his second season in the majors.

Mike Leake is 2-0 with a 5.40 ERA over 3 starts this season.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 19th, 2011 at 11:34 am and is filed under Cincinnati Reds. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.