Put in PROSPECTive:
| BEN BADLER |
For a player who hit 30 home runs last season, Michael Coleman just isn’t that great. Look beyond that stat and you will realize that Coleman doesn’t have a place in Boston.
The Boston Red Sox traded one of their top prospects, Adam Everett, for centerfielder Carl Everett because the Red Sox needed a centerfielder with offensive firepower. They could have brought up Coleman from AAA Pawtucket, but chose not to do so.
Coleman had an attitude problem earlier in his career, and although that has changed somewhat, his skills haven’t gotten any better.
Coleman does not fit into the Red Sox plans, and acquiring Everett and Marty Cordova just restated it. Coleman certainly won’t be playing centerfield for the Sox anytime soon, barring an injury to Everett. Even then, the Red Sox may opt to use Darren Lewis or Jermaine Allensworth. In right field, the Red Sox have Trot Nixon, who had a very good second half in 1999, and the Red Sox are expecting big things from him this year. The Red Sox also acquired former American League Rookie of the Year Marty Cordova to help play some in right field as well as first base and DH. If Nixon and Cordova happen by chance to go down with injury, look for the Sox to either use Darren Lewis in right field, acquire another right fielder, or bring up Jermaine Allensworth or Israel Alacantra from Pawtucket.
The Red Sox will try to trade Coleman in a package, probably to get another frontline starter or a legitimate closer to help them down the stretch.
Coleman is not high on the Red Sox priority list, and justly so.
Coleman has spent two and a half seasons with the AAA Pawtucket Red Sox, with last one being his best. After that much time to get used to seeing AAA pitching, it’s no wonder why Coleman hit 30 home runs. Unfortunately, that is the only outstanding stat that Coleman has put up in his minor league career. He only managed a .268 batting average last year, and only managed a batting average over .274 once. That came in 1997, when he split time between the AA Trenton Thunder, Pawtucket, and Boston. During his 24 at-bats with Boston in 1997, Coleman struck out 11 times and hit only .167. Think his strikeout problem can be attributed to how he switched from minor league pitching to major league pitching? Think again. Coleman struck out in almost 30 percent of his at-bats last season, leading the Pawsox in strikeouts with 128 in 457 at-bats.