Coghlan a Fish out of water

June, 17, 2011

6/17/11

5:49

PM ET

By Jim Bowden | ESPN.com

The 2009 National League Rookie of the Year has been demoted. The Florida Marlins optioned starting center fielder Chris Coghlan to Triple-A on Friday afternoon.

This year, the Marlins moved him to center field after dealing Cameron Maybin to the Padres in the offseason. Although Coghlan has played well defensively, he has not been able to get his bat going. Coghlan’s OPS has dropped from .850 his rookie year to .718 last year to .664 this year. He was hitting .230 with five home runs and seven stolen bases but had been caught six times. He had a .296 on-base percentage at the time of his demotion.

These type of personnel decisions by general managers are extremely difficult. I’ll never forget optioning Bret Boone to the minor leagues in 1997. This is a player who had hit 12-15 home runs every season from 1993-1996, but in 1997 for whatever reason, he could never get it going.

To continue reading this article you must be an Insider

ESPN The Magazine subscribers

Activate your Insider account »
Need more information?

View Insider Benefits »

ABOUT THIS BLOG

Jim Bowden

Bowden, who served as the senior vice president and GM for the Cincinnati Reds and the Washington Nationals, is an analyst for ESPN.com. In 1992, Bowden became the youngest GM in MLB history when the Reds hired him at age 31. The Reds finished in first place twice during his 10 years as GM, and he was named MLB Executive of the Year by Baseball America in 1999. After working for ESPN in 2004, Bowden became the first GM of the Washington Nationals when the franchise relocated from Montreal to Washington, D.C., in 2005, working in that role until the 2009 season. Bowden co-hosts the "Inside Pitch" radio show on Sirius XM satellite radio. Follow on Twitter: @JimBowdenESPNxm.