Colorado Springs winter in review

With their cuts made and final roster set, the Marines are officially done trading and ready for the draft.
Here is a recap of their transactions in the offseason and their 20-man before and after.

Marines lost:
OF - Carl Crawford
OF/1B - Josh Willingham
OF/1B - Daniel Murphy
C - Gregg Zaun
IF - Juan Uribe
RP - Bob Howry
2nd round pick (21st overall)
10th round pick (201st overall)
WAS 11th round pick (236th overall) - acquired in trade last year

Marines received:
SP - Cliff Lee
SP - Jorge De La Rosa
OF - Travis Snider
C - Carlos Ruiz
2nd round pick (35th overall)
6th round pick (117th overall)
6th round pick (110th overall)
10th round pick (206th overall)

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The Colorado projected 20-man before the dealing was likely:

1B - Joey Votto - L
2B - Howie Kendrick - R
SS - Erick Aybar - S
3B - Evan Longoria - R
RF - Nick Markakis - L
CF - Matt Kemp - R
LF - Justin Upton - R
OF - Carl Crawford - L
OF/1b - Josh Willingham - R
IF - Juan Uribe - R
DH - Hideki Matsui - L
SP - Felix Hernandez - R
SP - Johnny Cueto - R
SP - Aaron Harang - R
SP - Francisco Liriano – L
SP - Clay Buchholz - R
SP - Homer Bailey - R
SP - Anibal Sanchez - R
RP - Jonathon Broxton - R
RP - Franklin Morales - L

..but after:

C - Carlos Ruiz - R
1B - Joey Votto - L
2B - Howie Kendrick - R
SS - Erick Aybar - S
3B - Evan Longoria - R
RF - Nick Markakis - L
CF - Matt Kemp - R
LF - Justin Upton - R
DH - Hideki Matsui - L
OF - Travis Snider - L
SP - Felix Hernandez - R
SP - Cliff Lee - L
SP - Johnny Cueto - R
SP - Jorge De La Rosa - L
SP - Aaron Harang - R
SP - Francisco Liriano – L
SP - Clay Buchholz - R
SP - Homer Bailey - R
RP - Jonathon Broxton - R
RP - Franklin Morales - L

At the end of the day, the Marines truly lost 3 players they were planning on keeping: Crawford, Willingham and Uribe. Though Crawford and Willingham were tough losses, both were in an area of surplus for the Marines. "Obviously trading Carl was a tough decision for us," GM Eric Posch stated, "But with our outfield a logjam between three young stars, we felt that moving him was the best thing for him and for us. We'll miss his speed and defense, certainly, but we're very happy in the return we got from Reno. We wish him nothing but the best with Kansas City."
Uribe would have proved helpful in filling in some missing in-field at bats against righties, but his age made him expendable to the Marines.
Their additions, however, provided them with a net gain in draft picks as well as some much needed starting pitching help. Cliff Lee and Jorge De La Rosa will provide quality innings this year for the Marines, and turn a lackluster rotation into a solid one. Travis Snider is a project that the Marines were more than happy to adopt. The 21 year old elite prospesct, they hope, can offer a nice power bat down the road from an outfield, first base or DH spot. Carlos Ruiz was taken on to mentor the rookie Matt Wieters and help out against lefty pitching.

Overall, the Marines believe that their offseason was extremely profitable, and are looking forward to the draft to fill out a roster that looks to be competitive in 2010.