Baseball’s Winter Meeting is generally a time of great change for the Marlins. Season after season the Marlins come in as shoppers, looking to drop veterans or pricey players in favor of a steal somewhere along the line. This year has been no different really.

Late last week the Marlins decided it was time to part ways with long time C Matt Treanor. Treanor spent 10 years in the minor leagues before getting called up in 2004 by the Marlins. Treanor was always a backup to one catcher or another for the Marlins until the 2008 season. Treanor’s season however was marred by hip injuries and he appeared in only 65 games. At 32 (33 in March 09) the Marlins didn’t feel Treanor would be the catcher to go forward with.

With the departure of Treanor the job, for now, belongs to John Baker who will be backed up by Mike Rabelo. In Baker’s rookie year last season he appeared in 61 games and was an impressive .299 at the plate with 5 HRs and 32 RBIs. Rabelo was less impressive at the plate, but is solid behind the plate.

Nevertheless, as the Winter Meetings drew to a close this weekend the Marlins were still rumored to be seeking a catcher to challenge Baker for the starting job. The top two names on the list are free agent Michael Barrett and Texas Ranger Max Ramirez. Both have been targeted by the Marlins all offseason so far. Barrett is an 11 year veteran who would likely be more of a backup to Baker as he has been less than impressive in the past few seasons. Ramirez is very young and appeared in only 17 games last season, batting .217 with 2 HRs and 9 RBIs.

Baker, barring a very poor outing in Spring Training, is likely to end up as the Marlins’ starting catcher come opening day 2009. Adding Ramirez would leave the Marlins with little depth at catcher as Rabelo, with his 3 season in the Majors, would be the most seasoned. Barrett brings less potential for the future but has more experience behind the plate than Baker and Rabelo combined. All things considered, the Marlins couldn’t go wrong in chosing either Ramirez or Barrett.