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| Tuesday, March 20 | |||||
| Henson certainly has a great upside Special to ESPN.com | |||||
| Here's a look at the three prospects in Tuesday's trade between the Reds and
Yankees.
Drew Henson The centerpiece of the transaction, of course, since it is his desire to play baseball for New York rather than football for Michigan that is motivating this entire mess. Henson is an excellent power prospect, but does have a few warts. In 600 career at-bats, he has 23 homers and 34 doubles, along with 54 walks and 187 strikeouts. Obviously, he has trouble controlling the strike zone, and if he doesn't get that in gear, he could be a major disappointment. That said, it's critical to remember that he is only 21 years old, lacks experience, and has never played a full season in the minors. If he devotes himself to baseball full-time, it is reasonable to expect he would improve his strike zone judgment, which is something that the Yankees generally emphasize. Given his youth and impressive natural ability, I'm optimistic about Henson's chances to develop, assuming of course that he does give up football. Michael Coleman Originally in the Red Sox system, Coleman was traded to the Reds for Chris Stynes this past winter. He is going from Cincinnati to New York, thus returning to the American League East. He has solid raw power, but an erratic track record. He has 20/20 power/speed tools, but his strike zone judgment varies between adequate and poor, and there have been past concerns about his attitude, although that seems less of an issue for the last year or so. He also gets hurt a lot. I'm not exactly sure where Coleman fits for the Yankees, other than Triple-A Columbus, but he does provide some extra depth in the outfield. Wily Mo Pena Yankee fans are familiar with this guy, who has been hyped since signing a major-league contract with a $3.7 million bonus a couple of years ago. Despite that, Pena is probably the weakest of the three players involved in the trade. He hit .205 in 67 games in the Sally League last year, fanning 91 times! He hits the ball a long way when he makes contact, but his plate discipline is horrid. While neither Henson nor Coleman are Barry Bonds clones when it comes to controlling the strike zone, both have at least proven they can hold their own against high-level minor-league pitching. John Sickels is the author of the 2001 STATS Minor League Scouting Notebook. He lives in Lawrence, Kansas, with his wife, son, and two cats. You can send John questions or comments at JASickels@aol.com, or you can visit his homepage at hometown.aol.com/jasickels/page1.html. |  | ||||