Fish n’ grits: Miami Marlins morning news

With a day off yesterday, the team didn’t keep itself out of the headlines. Between trades, another investor interested in buying the team, and the upcoming Mets series, it was a busy off day.

After a few days of speculation, the Miami Marlins finally executed a trade to send Adeiny Hechavarria to the Tampa Bay Rays. The move was expected, with the questions being when, where, and who, rather than if.

Meanwhile, the state of the sale of the team as a whole remains as in flux as ever. The team of investors is becoming a squad of multi-millionaires. All this, and the team is expected to focus on a clean sweep of the Mets.

There’s a lot on the plate for the Miami Marlins. Time to dig in. It’s Fish n’ grits.

Miami Marlins trade Hechavarria

The team officially decided it was time to move on from Adeiny Hechavarria on Monday. After trade speculation reached a feverish pitch over the weekend, a move was considered eminent. The execution of that trade provided two prospects in return.

Hechavarria leaves the Marlins franchise without having left much of a mark in his four years. He never developed into the type of hitter Miami expected when they received him from the Blue Jays. His fielding was among the best in the National League from the shortstop position though.

Hechavarria appeared in 599 games in a Miami Marlins uniform. He batted to a .255/.291/.337 slash line, and picked up 537 career hits. He has produced 1.8 WAR for his career.

We’ve already gotten know the newest Miami Marlins as a result of that trade: Ethan Clark and Braxton Lee. Both could become Major League players with a couple more years of time at the lower levels.

New millionaire in the mix

The competing bids to own the Miami Marlins franchise continue to stockpile wealthy millionaires on their team. After Jeb Bush flipped from his partnership with Derek Jeter, to a competing bid with Tagg Romney, they felt they needed to add a little more firepower.

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They’ve added Marcus Lemonis to their bidding team. In addition to hosting a show called “The Profit” on CNBC, Lemonis is also the acting CEO of Camping World. He’ll join a group that includes Tagg Romney, Jeb Bush, and New York based investor Wayne Rothbaum.

Their main competitor remains Jorge Mas, the owner of MasTec. Derek Jeter has become an afterthought at this point. He is rumored to be able to contribute only $25 million of his own money.

Meet the Mets, beat the Mets

The New York Mets are in town and looking to play some baseball. After getting off a stumbling start this year, both teams enter this series seeing an opportunity. Both will be looking to make this the catalyst towards an incredible run at the playoffs.

The Miami Marlins are six games under .500 for the millionth time in the last week-and-a-half. With 13 games remaining between now and the All-Star break, they need a 10-3 finish to enter the break on the right side of even.

The Mets are seven games under, and will need a similarly furious finish to get all the way back before the break. With 12 games remaining, they’d need to go 10-2. Both sides need all three of these wins in a major way; expect a hotly contested series.

Next: Trading Hechavarria doesn't tip Marlins hand

The Miami Marlins had one of the busier off days in recent history. a trade that gained steam quickly came to a head, and Miami traded shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria. CEO of Camping World and CNBC’s “The Profit” host Marcus Lemonis joined the Romney/Bush bid for the team.

There will also be some baseball played at some point. The Mets showed up for it and everything.