Carlos Lee said Sunday morning he still hadn’t made a decision on whether to accept a trade to the Los Angeles Dodgers, though several of his teammates believe the slugger wants to stay with the Astros. Lee was pulled into manager Brad Mills’ office upon his arrival at Wrigley Field for a closed-door meeting.
When approached by the media at his locker prior to the game, Lee said he hasn’t made a decision.
After going 0-for-4 and hitting into a double play in the Astros’ 3-2 loss to the Cubs on Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field, Lee admitted the weight of trying to decide whether to accept the trade to the Dodgers or stay in Houston has been difficult.
And that’s what prompted Mills to talk to him
“I just wanted to talk to him about a few things, being in the lineup today and so forth,” Mills said. “I kind of wanted to see where his head was and making sure he’s focused. This is a big decision he has to make, and I want to allow him the opportunity to make that. But he felt he wanted to play and wanted to be in the lineup and that wouldn’t affect us.”
Lee said Saturday he was informed by general manager Jeff Luhnow he would be sent to Dodgers in a trade if he approved the deal. Lee, in the final year of six-year, $100-million contract, has a limited no-trade clause and would have to waive it to be sent to Los Angeles.
Lee’s limited no-trade clause means he has to give the Astros a list of 14 teams to which his contract may not be assigned (he had the ability to change that list at the end of last year). The limited no-trade supersedes his 10-5 rights to veto any trade.
He entered play Sunday hitting .285 with five homers and 29 RBIs, but had yet to hit a home run on the road this year.
