With Al Leiter’s departure, Mike Lowell is now officially the weakest hitter on the Marlins roster. The struggling 3B was 1 for 4 with an RBI in Florida’s 6-3 win over Arizona, a game that might’ve marked AJ Burnett’s final start for the Fish, and saw a pair of HR’s from Miguel Cabrera (above) and a 2 run shot by Carlos Delgado.

The Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec and Dan Connolly on Florida’s ongoing attempts to deal Burnett and Lowell.

The Orioles remain in talks with Florida on a potential trade for right- handed pitcher A.J. Burnett, but the deal could be in jeopardy because of the Orioles’ unwillingness to absorb most of the contract of Marlins third baseman Mike Lowell, according to industry sources.

One industry source even maintained that the six-player deal, which would send Orioles pitching prospect Hayden Penn, outfielder Larry Bigbie and reliever Jorge Julio to the Marlins for Burnett, Lowell and a minor league outfielder, may have reached a breaking point, but that was refuted by a high-ranking Orioles official, who said the teams are “still in negotiations.”

Lowell, 31, who entered Tuesday night with a .232 average, four home runs and 37 RBIs, is owed $18 million for the next two seasons plus about $3 million for the rest of this one. The trade’s fate, according to sources, depends on how much money the Marlins are willing to pick up. A source said that the Orioles asked them to pick up about half, or approximately $10 million, but Florida balked at the request.

The Marlins apparently would take struggling reliever Steve Kline, who has a two-year, $5.6 million deal, off the Orioles’ hands, but that likely won’t be enough to push the deal through.

According to a source, the two teams also are discussing an alternative deal, which would send Julio, Kline and Penn to the Marlins for Burnett and left- handed Triple-A reliever Matt Perisho.