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| 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.
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| IAN SUGAR |
Rod Beck is vital to the success of the Boston Red Sox in 2000. Famous for his Fu-Manchu mustache and unruly hair, Beck is coming off surgery and hopes to contribute to the Red Sox bullpen.
Beck needs to be the Derek Lowe of this year’s bullpen. With Lowe, the Red Sox had an immediate force whenever they wanted him out of the bullpen, especially in the seventh and eighth innings. Now, with Tom Gordon out for the season, Beck will need to shoulder that load. If Beck can be even half as effective as Lowe was, he will make the Red Sox bullpen a monster force that already includes the likes of Rheal Cormier, Bryce Florie, Rich Garces, and Sang Hoon Lee.
The Red Sox are hoping that Rod Beck can revert to his old form,
and Beck says he will show everyone in spring training that he
still has his old stuff
Beck has spent the majority of his career with the San Francisco Giants. With the Giants, Beck was one of the premier closers in the game. Be had 199 saves with the Giants from 1991 through 1997.
At the end of the ‘97 season, Beck made the move to the Chicago Cubs and led the Cubbies to a postseason appearance, posting 51 saves and a 3.02 ERA. After this fantastic season, it was all downhill for the closer.
After having surgery at the end of the ’98 season, Beck finally returned to the Cubs and was atrocious. It is tough to imagine a pitcher being any worse. In 30 innings, Beck had porous 7.80 ERA with just 7 saves in 30 appearances.
The Cubs, frustrated with Beck’s lackluster performance, traded him to the Red Sox for third base prospect Cole Liniak. The Red Sox could afford to give up the highly sought after Liniak the even more highly touted prospect Wilton Veras was making quite a debut for himself in Boston at third base. Beck had much better success with the Red Sox for the remainder of the season. He posted an impeccable 1.93 ERA in a setup/closer role. He picked up 3 saves and posted a 0-1 record, in 14 innings for the Red Sox.
Beck’s success was short-lived for the Bosox, because playoff time had come. Beck has the infamous tag of giving up the game-winning home run to Bernie Williams in game one of the ALCS. All it took was one pitch to end the Red Sox hopes. In addition, he gave up another huge home run in game 4 of the ALCS. His horrendous performances led to his being sold on E-bay for $4, and unrelenting ridicule from talk-show hosts.
Beck has been one of the best closers in baseball over his career, having 260 saves to his credit. He will need to shoulder some of the load of the overworked Derrick Lowe, who will occupy the closer role presumably. Rod needs to establish himself as the setup guy for the Sox, as to also take the pressure off Florie, Garces, Wasdin, Cormier, and Lee.
Will Rod Beck return to his 1998 form, or will he fizzle out in the hopeless pool of mediocre pitching we call Major League Baseball? We will soon find out.