Miami Marlins Acquire Carlos Lee

Carlos Lee rejected trades over the last year with his 10 and 5 rights but accepted a trade to the Miami Marlins on this Independence Day.

With the Marlins woefully struggling offensively at first base, their collective .565 OPS is the worst in baseball by a large margin, they needed an upgrade and found it in Lee, who’s batting .287 and has one of the lowest strikeout rates in baseball.

Houston wanted to get out of Lee’s contract, he’s making $19 million this year in the final year of his deal, and they got back once-promising 3B Matt Dominguez and advanced-A lefty starter Rob Rasmussen for Lee, according to Buster Olney.

Miami is currently six games behind the Reds and the NL West wild card team (the Giants and Dodgers are tied for first) and Lee could be the offensive boost the Marlins need to climb further back into the playoff picture. Houston could celebrate knowing they finally got rid of their worst contract.