16 in spite of otherwise unimpressive peripherals

The agreement buys Iannetta out of his arbitration years and gives the Rockies cost certainty heading into the 2010 campaign. Late-inning reliever Rafael Betancourt accepted arbitration, guaranteeing the Rockies a solid back end of the rotation. Non-tendered third baseman Garrett Atkins, allowing him to become a free agent.Team Grade: BEvaluation: The Rockies were not expected to be very active in the 2009 Winter Meetings. They are comfortable with their lineup staying basically the same heading into 2010.Catcher Yorvit Torrealba took over the starting spot late in the season as Iannetta faltered, and the Rockies are trying to work on a deal to get him back as well Torrealba is set on a two-year, $6 million deal. The Rockies are reportedly $400,000 away from that number, but neither side is willing to budge.Iannetta possesses more God-given talent, but after three straight seasons of losing the starting job, the Rockies are looking to have a veteran catcher waiting in the wings. Despite having two highly touted catching prospects in the minor leagues (Mike McKenry and Wilin Rosario), the Rockies should save a significant amount of money by avoiding three years of arbitration, and if Iannetta flames out, gets hurt, or proves that his down 2009 was not an aberration, the team is not on the hook for a huge chunk of money.The Rockies are still looking to add depth after losing Jason Marquis to free agency but are most likely going to depend on Jeff Francis to fill that role. Tetrault Vision Team Name: Colorado RockiesTeam Record: 92-70 second 3.0 GB wild card winnerTeam Needs: Salary Relief, Backup Catcher, and Pitching DepthMoves Made: Non-tendered 3B Garrett AtkinsWinter Meetings Grade: Incomplete no moves, no gradeEvaluation: Coming off their second wild card in three seasons, the Rockies are in an enviable position. Young players dot the roster at key positions, especially up the middle with Chris Iannetta catching, Troy Tulowitzki at short, and Dexter Fowler the likely center fielder.In addition, impressive youngsters Carlos Gonzalez and Ian Stewart round out the left side of the field in left and at third base respectively.

Clint Barmes, currently at second base, may be pushed to a utility role by Eric Young Jr.The Rockies' youth movement has given them impressive depth in the outfield, where five players will fight for playing time. Seth Smith and Ryan Spilborghs figure to be the fourth and fifth outfielders, unless Dan O'Dowd reverses course and tries to find a taker for the Brad Hawpe, the elder statesman of the Rockies outfield, who turns 31 in June.On the hill, Ubaldo Jimenez fronts a rotation rounded out by Aaron Cook, Jorge De La Rosa, Jason Hammel, and Jeff Francis. Jimenez put together his second straight brilliant season, chalking up more strikeouts than hits allowed, while pushing his strikeout to walk ratio to 2.33. He's the undisputed ace of the staff.Francis, entering his age 29 season, is coming off a lost 2009 thanks to arthroscopic surgery on his pitching shoulder. Colorado is depending on him to stay healthy to replace free agent Jason Marquis.Hammel's first season in the National League showed how big the difference between AL and NL has become. He improved on all of his rate stats, nearly doubled his career innings pitched, and won 10 games. De La Rosa, on his fifth organization, put together his best season and will be just 29 in 2010.Cook, the eldest of the starters, had an uneven year in 2009, but thanks to keeping the ball in the park kept his ERA to a nifty 4.16 in spite of otherwise unimpressive peripherals.Colorado has enough young talent to defer bigger acquisitions to mid-2010.

Franklin Morales gives them a pitcher who can hedge against ineffectiveness of Cook or Francis or step in to replace Huston Street at the back of the pen. The returns of Francis and Taylor Buchholz from injury are hopeful signs but also suggest greater depth on the mound would be helpful.The still costly Todd Helton deal hampers Colorado's ability to retain their young talent, but continued success in Denver will help keep the fans in the park and provide the financial buffer to pay the young players as they go through arbitration.In an NL West with an imploded Padre team, an imploding, though still very talented, Dodger team, a Diamondback team that has underachieved for consecutive seasons, and a Giant team that varies between old and creaky and young and inexperienced, the Rockies are in position to strongly contend for the division title this year and in the immediate future.Depending on how bad things get in Dodgertown, they are the team to beat. San Diego Padres Slanch Report Team Name: San Diego Padres2009 Record: 75-87Team Needs: Center Field, Leadoff Hitter, Starting Pitching, Anyone who can successfully hit Major League pitchingTeam Moves: Resigned Kevin Correia, non-tendered Jackson Quezada and Mark WorrellWinter Meetings Grade: CEvaluation: When the San Diego Padres left the GM meetings, their biggest and best deal was the one they didn't make trading All-Star first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. The San Diego-born Gonzalez is signed to an extremely team-friendly deal and represents really the only consistent offensive threat in the Padres lineup Without him the 2010 Padres don't have much hope. Then again, with him there isn't much hope either.New GM Jed Hoyer's next best move might have been hiring Jason McLeod to be the assistant GM away from the Red Sox, where he presided over their draft choices, picking players like Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Clay Buchholz in recent years. If McLeod can have similar success in San Diego, the Padres' farm system could be rapidly refilled with top prospects, which is direly needed.The team on the field, so far, is relatively unchanged from the end of the season. The team signed Kevin Correia who ended up leading the team with his whopping 11 wins to a $3.6 million contract for next season avoiding arbitration.They tendered contracts to all of their eligible players including Kevin Kouzmanoff and closer Heath Bell except for Jackson Quezada and Mark Worrell, who were non-tendered Who Exactly. A consistent first baseman, possibly a starting catcher, and some more guys who can hit the baseball where fielders aren't.Team Moves: Signed Freddy Sanchez and minor league shortstop Tony Pena Jr., declined to offer a contract to Ryan Garko, declined arbitration to Bengie Molina, Randy Winn, Randy Johnson, and Bobby Howry, and (kinda) lost Brad Penny to St.