The World Series champions Florida Marlins traded first baseman Derrek Lee to the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday in a cost-cutting measure, getting Hee Seop Choi and a minor leaguer to be named.
More deals could follow.
"There were two main reasons for the move. One is, obviously, we need to achieve our goal of operating within our payroll," Marlins general manager Larry Beinfest said. "Two, we want to make sure we have the appropriate allocations to retain our core pitching."
The Marlins insist their offseason changes won't be as drastic as the ones after they won their first World Series title in 1997. That team wasn't just broken up, it was blown up, with the best pieces stripped and sold to the highest bidder like so many spare parts.
But Florida does have to watch its budget. It won the World Series with a US$54 million payroll, and it would cost more than US$80 million just to keep the current squad intact.
Second baseman Luis Castillo, catcher Ivan Rodriguez and closer Ugueth Urbina are all free agents. Third baseman Mike Lowell, right fielder Juan Encarnacion and starting pitchers Brad Penny and Mark Redman are among a long list of players eligible for salary arbitration.
Lee also is eligible for arbitration, and his salary is expected to go from US$4.25 million to at least US$6 million. By trading him, the Marlins said they were able to offer right-hander A.J. Burnett a contract.
Burnett, one of Florida's best young pitchers, missed most of last season after having elbow surgery.
"We believe strong pitching wins and we want to remain competitive," Beinfest said. "Our owner has shown that he likes to win and remain competitive. That is our goal."
And the Cubs were only too happy to take some of Florida's payroll off their hands. In getting Lee, the Cubs added power, speed and sure hands to their lineup.
"Lee is 28 years old, just growing into his peak years and he's a really, really good athlete," Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said. "This was just something we felt we had to do and couldn't pass up."
With good reason. Lee hit .271 with 31 homers, 92 RBIs and 21 steals last season and had a slugging percentage of .508. He has 20 homers in each of his last four seasons and 40 steals over the last two years -- the most by any first baseman in the majors.
He's also a Gold Glove winner, something the Cubs haven't had -- at any position -- since Mark Grace in 1996. He's a career .994 fielder at first base.
``We think it makes us a lot better,'' Hendry said. ``We got a quality performance out of Eric Karros and Randall Simon, collectively ... But this is, we think, really one of premier corner players in his 20s in the game.''
And Lee's numbers can only improve away from Florida's Pro Player Stadium. Lee's power traditionally has been to the alleys, which are very long in Miami.
Of Lee's 130 career homers, 89 came on the road.
"So we think his home run totals have a chance to even climb here," Hendry said. "Players, once they get that first real good year under their belt, usually the better years are now going to be coming in next three to five years. Hopefully, we'll be beneficiary of that."
Hendry said he's already talked with Lee's agent about a longterm deal.
"We both feel that this is where Derrek wants to be and where we want him to be," Hendry said. "Hopefully in the next couple of months we can do that."
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