Marlins: Rip Fans' Hearts Out... Again

To anyone who follows sports, this is not news.

But I need to put it out there.

The Marlins have once again initiated a fire-sale and effectively ripped out the hearts of Marlins fans far and wide. What makes the pain worse, is that we weren't long recovered from the last time the Marlins did this.

Let's take a look at what has changed...

Marlins' 2005 Opening Day Lineup:

CF Juan Pierre – traded
2B Luis Castillo – traded
LF Miguel Cabrera – moved to 3B
1B Carlos Delgado – traded
3B Mike Lowell – traded
C Paul Lo Duca – traded
RF Juan Encarnacion – FA
SS Alex Gonzalez – FA
P Josh Beckett – traded

Also:
SP AJ Burnett – traded
RP Guillermo Mota – traded
1B Jeff Conine – FA
2B Damion Easley – FA
RP Todd Jones – traded
RP Ron Villone – traded

And then this: the San Antonio Marlins?

The Silver Lining in all this? Prospects. Lots and lots of interesting and exciting prospects were acquired through the numerous fire-sale trades. ESPN's Rob Neyer said: "By the way, we've all been focusing our attention on the players the Marlins have lost, but somebody needs to sit down and make a list of the players the Marlins have gained. My guess is that when we take a look at that list in three or four years, we'll find an awful lot of good ones. Don't be surprised if the Marlins follow the Indians' path and vault back into contention before this decade's out."

Ugh... who am I kiding? The 2006 baseball Ssason's gonna suck.

Hopefully the WBC will be fun...