We’ve all heard the saying, “If you can’t beat them, join them.” In the case of one former member of the Chicago Cubs, it was more like, “After you beat them, join them.”
That was the case on November 25, 2003, when the Cubs made one of their best trades in recent memory. The Cubs and then-Florida Marlins swapped first basemen, with Hee-Seop Choi going to the Fish and Derrek Lee coming to the North Side of Chicago. Minor league pitcher Mike Nannini also went to the Marlins in the deal.
Lee was an important part of the Marlins team that knocked the Cubs out of the playoffs in the seven-game National League Championship Series in 2003.