Per Rosecrans (and first seen at Red Reporter), the Reds have signed Corey Patterson and Jerry Hairston, Jr. to minor league deals. Unsurprisingly, both played for Dusty Baker with the Cubs. Unsurprisingly, both stunk.
Hairston, 32 in May, put up a Castrolicious line in Dallas last year (.189, .249, .289 in 184 PAs), while Patterson, 27, did only slightly better in Baltimore (.269, .304, .386 in 503 PAs). Between the two of them, they have 2 partial seasons (of 18) with an OPS+ over 100.
Rosecrans interviewed Krivsky. Here are the parts that don’t make you want to pull out your hair:
We wouldn’t have signed them if we didn’t think they could help us, whether they can make the team or not, that remains to be seen. We’ll see what kind of shape they’re in. Both said they’ve stayed in shape over the off-season, but they haven’t seen live pitching for a while and will need a couple of days before they get into games.
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No promises or guarantees have been made to either guy.
I honestly don’t see the point, given the other guys they have in camp. How are they going to sort through Bruce, Freel, Hopper, Dickerson (guess not), Patterson, and Hairston (and get Dunn and Jr ready). And I admit to always looking for hidden (nefarious) implications whenever Dusty Baker is involved. But if it will make Baker feel better about starting Jay Bruce if he “beats out” a veteran for the CF job, then I guess I can live with it.
Fay has a reasoned take on Patterson:
a no-risk, high-reward deal. The guy’s only 28, he can run and he has pop.
But he’s got to get his on-base percentage up — way up — to be effective. The Reds say he made strides last year.
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His on-base percentage was .333 after the All-Star Break. That’s not Rickey Henderson. But it’s vast improvement over his career mark .298.The light goes on for guys at different ages. I remember thinking trading for Brandon Phillips was a silly move. They had Tony Womack, Rich Aurilia and Ryan Freel to play second after all. That worked out pretty well.