Miami Marlins To Acquire Carlos Lee

The Miami Marlins have acquired first baseman Carlos Lee from the Houston Astros in exchange for third baseman Matt Dominguez and pitcher Rob Rasmussen, as ESPN's Buster Olney first reported. The deal comes mere days after Lee refused to go to Los Angeles after the Astros agreed to a deal with the Dodgers.

No longer the great hitter he was once, Lee can still provide a solid all-around bat and a significant upgrade over present Marlins first baseman Gaby Sanchez. This season, the 36-year-old Lee has hit .286/.336/.412 with 15 doubles and five homers, numbers that qualify as just slightly above average.

Those numbers should provide a major upgrade for Miami, though, given how poorly Sanchez has played this season. After hitting his way into a full-time role in the previous two seasons, the 28-year-old has hit a terrible .194/.240/.283 this season. Per FanGraphs, he's been the worst first baseman in the majors according to WAR this year.

According to Juan C. Rodriguez of the Miami Sun Sentinel, the Marlins weren't on Lee's no-trade list so he didn't have a say in whether to go to Miami or not. It's a cheap deal financially for Miami, as Rodriguez adds that the Astros are eating the entirety of his contract besides the prorated league minimum.

________________________________________________________

Is Carlos Lee enough to help turn the Marlins' season around?

________________________________________________________