MIAMI — The Florida Marlins bolstered their bullpen today by acquiring left-hander Arthur Rhodes from the Seattle Mariners for minor league right-hander Gaby Hernandez.

Florida, in the thick of the NL East and wild-card races, made the deal a few hours before baseball's 4 p.m. EDT trade deadline.

The 38-year-old Rhodes is 2-1 with a 2.86 ERA with 26 strikeouts in 22 innings. He has a lifetime record of 77-61 with a 4.28 ERA in 689 games.

Rhodes' career appeared in jeopardy when he underwent Tommy John surgery in May 2007. But he came back ahead of schedule this year, returned to the Mariners in mid-April and pitched effectively.

Rhodes was the Mariners' main lefty setup man after they traded George Sherrill to Baltimore in an offseason deal for Erik Bedard. But Seattle's season quickly fell apart and with so few save opportunities for the bullpen, Rhodes wound up as a situational lefty.

The 21-year-old Hernandez went a combined 5-8 this season with a 6.47 ERA in 17 starts for Triple-A Albuquerque and Double-A Carolina.