Matt Treanor was less healthy than we were led to believe -- meaning, he was big time hurt.

The muscle tears around catcher Matt Treanor's left hip that sidelined him 24 games last season were worse than anticipated. Yet after undergoing surgery Oct. 1 that also fixed an umbilical hernia, Treanor expects to be at full strength well before he heads to Jupiter.

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Treanor is unsure whether he has played his last game for the only organization he's known since midway through the 1997 season. One of 15 arbitration-eligible Marlins, Treanor will go through the process for the second time. Last season, he didn't know whether the Marlins were keeping him until the December deadline to tender contracts.

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Though Treanor is due a bump over the $705,000 he earned in 2008, he certainly won't break the bank. AJohn Baker-Treanor tandem should cost the Marlins less than $2 million, considering Baker will earn right around the $400,000 league minimum next season.

Treanor is not an impact player offensively, but he's no longer a black hole in the lineup. More importantly, Treanor is a quality catcher and his knowledge of the pitchers would be invaluable to Baker's development.

I've already touch on this before, but I will say it again, assuming he is healthy, it would be in the Marlins best interest to bring Treanor back.  Baker can learn a lot about catching (I said catching; not hitting) from Treanor.  The drills Matt puts himself through to fine tune his defensive skills, can only help the young Mr. Baker, if he will emulate them.

Besides what he brings behind the plate, he is a good guy to have in clubhouse and one of the nicest, if not the nicest guy to the fans.