Former Cubs CF Corey Patterson still hasn't signed with a new team this offseason and I just don't understand why. There are numerous teams (Cardinals, Braves, Rangers, Twins, etc.) looking for a CF and its not as if his price tag ($3 million) is that high. He stole over 30 bases in both of his seasons in Baltimore and cut down on his strikeouts last season. Why aren't teams all over this guy? I wrote more about my odd 'love' for Patterson over at Epic Carnival, so check it out.
The Cardinals have somewhat of a crowded outfield right now with Ankiel, Duncan, Ludwick, Schumaker and Barton on the roster. Plus, they want to take a serious look at Rasmus in CF in spring training. If he does well they may speed up his development cycle and put him on the roster.
Also, I think they lose offense by putting Patterson on the team. He has speed, but nothing else.
He'll get you 15-20 HR's and if he's good, he has a shot at 30/30....I threw the Cards in there since they lost Edmonds and lack a true CF on their roster with major league experience
I'm not saying he's the best CF ever...I'm saying for $3 million you would think a team would take a chance on a guy who has speed, some power (look at his Minor league and previous MLB #'s), plays very good defense and struggles with taking walks. He's not the next Willie Mays, but he is serviceable and could be a buy low candidate
Oh, I agree. Some team should at least take a flyer on him. I'm just saying it shouldn't be the Cardinals since they have players or platoon situation that can put up better numbers.
time will tell...time will tell...i don't think they have anyone who is better in CF than Patterson. We'll compare the #'s after this season, or during...that might be a running theme.
that jump from AA to the majors is a pretty big one. If you compared Rasmus to Patterson when at the age Rasmus is now, they are very similar players except Rasmus doesn't K as much. Anyways....
I've always been a fan of Patterson's potential, and have had him on various fantasy teams because of it.
My guess: He had no power last year, which might scare some teams off, since that might indicate one or two things: the injuries have sapped him of his 30 home run power, or that his original HR power was artificial. The latter might explain why he's not being looked at too much yet.
Or it could be that his high K ratio, and his terrible uppercut swing, not too mention his low batting average, don't make sense for a base stealer/leadoff hitter type. He might just be the MLB version of a tweener; too fast and not powerful enough to be a slugger, too much of a free swinger to be a lead off hitter.
You are right, there is no way he should bat lead-off, but if the Yanks traded Melky to get Santana....Corey would be a great 9 hole hitter. In reality, he should be hitting 7th where the expectations are low and the ability to 'freelance' is high. He always had big power in the minors and his K #'s lowered (a lot) last season, so I'm thinking he was just less aggressive in his swing and fewer homers came. On top of that, he did battle some injuries and was in and out of the lineup as the O's tried to figure out what they were doing.
I could see him turning out to be like Carlos Pena (Tampa Bay) who didn't figure out what he was doing until three or four teams later.
Patterson can play outfield with the best of them and had one of the highest rated arms for a CF in all of MLB last season.
2008 Cubs Preview
The Cardinals have somewhat of a crowded outfield right now with Ankiel, Duncan, Ludwick, Schumaker and Barton on the roster. Plus, they want to take a serious look at Rasmus in CF in spring training. If he does well they may speed up his development cycle and put him on the roster.
Also, I think they lose offense by putting Patterson on the team. He has speed, but nothing else.
He'll get you 15-20 HR's and if he's good, he has a shot at 30/30....I threw the Cards in there since they lost Edmonds and lack a true CF on their roster with major league experience
He only had 8 HR last year in a 130 some games and a sub 700 OPS. None of the Cards regular outfielders had that low of an OPS total.
I'm not saying he's the best CF ever...I'm saying for $3 million you would think a team would take a chance on a guy who has speed, some power (look at his Minor league and previous MLB #'s), plays very good defense and struggles with taking walks. He's not the next Willie Mays, but he is serviceable and could be a buy low candidate
Oh, I agree. Some team should at least take a flyer on him. I'm just saying it shouldn't be the Cardinals since they have players or platoon situation that can put up better numbers.
time will tell...time will tell...i don't think they have anyone who is better in CF than Patterson. We'll compare the #'s after this season, or during...that might be a running theme.
Defensively you could be right about CF. Offensively, I don't think so.
The Rasmus kid is supposedly an exceptional CF. I guess we'll see if he gets called up.
that jump from AA to the majors is a pretty big one. If you compared Rasmus to Patterson when at the age Rasmus is now, they are very similar players except Rasmus doesn't K as much. Anyways....
I've always been a fan of Patterson's potential, and have had him on various fantasy teams because of it.
My guess: He had no power last year, which might scare some teams off, since that might indicate one or two things: the injuries have sapped him of his 30 home run power, or that his original HR power was artificial. The latter might explain why he's not being looked at too much yet.
Or it could be that his high K ratio, and his terrible uppercut swing, not too mention his low batting average, don't make sense for a base stealer/leadoff hitter type. He might just be the MLB version of a tweener; too fast and not powerful enough to be a slugger, too much of a free swinger to be a lead off hitter.
You are right, there is no way he should bat lead-off, but if the Yanks traded Melky to get Santana....Corey would be a great 9 hole hitter. In reality, he should be hitting 7th where the expectations are low and the ability to 'freelance' is high. He always had big power in the minors and his K #'s lowered (a lot) last season, so I'm thinking he was just less aggressive in his swing and fewer homers came. On top of that, he did battle some injuries and was in and out of the lineup as the O's tried to figure out what they were doing.
I could see him turning out to be like Carlos Pena (Tampa Bay) who didn't figure out what he was doing until three or four teams later.
Patterson can play outfield with the best of them and had one of the highest rated arms for a CF in all of MLB last season.