The Miami Marlins, in an effort to solidify their fourth-place spot in the National League East and fend off the last-place Phillies, have acquired first baseman Carlos Lee from the Houston Astros. In return, the Astros will get two minor leaguers, third baseman Matt Dominguez and lefty starter Rob Rasmussen. Lee is in the final year of a six-year, $100 million deal he signed before the 2007 season, and it's a near certainty that Houston will cover a good chunk of the $9 million or so remaining on his contract for 2012.

Michael Jong at SB Nation's Marlins site Fish Stripes is nonplussed:

This is a puzzling move for the Marlins. It makes sense because the team is interested in improving at first base without committing long term to an option, but the projected improvement with Carlos Lee just does not seem to warrant the move. Lee is well on his decline phase and it is almost as if the Marlins were working primarily on name value. The prospects were underwhelming but still potentially useful, but the return just seems pointless even given the team's concerns at first base.

David Coleman at SB Nation's Astros site Crawfish Boxes is excited:

No word yet on the amount of money going to Miami, but I'd imagine Houston is picking up some of his salary to get two pretty good players. It's also important to note that Houston got more for Lee than Boston apparently did for Kevin Youkilis.