Better Them Than Us

So…the Orioles scored themselves another year of Corey Patterson for a cool $4.3 million.

That’s about $200K for each of his 2006 walks.

Or, to put it another way, the O’s just dropped star money on a guy who posted an OBP over .320 in only two of the season’s six months. And those two months represent 133 of Patterson’s 463 season ABs.

But I’m sure the O’s have a good reason for what they’re doing. Right?

His 45 stolen bases -- on 54 attempts -- was tied for the third in the AL and was the third-highest single-season total in Orioles history. He had steals in nine straight games from May 25-June 7, the longest streak in the majors since Rickey Henderson had a similar nine-game run in 1986.

In addition, he did not ground into a double play in 499 plate appearances. That was the sixth-highest total without a GIDP over the last 73 seasons, according to STATS, Inc.

That explains it, I guess.

I’ve always been a Patterson fan, and I sincerely hope that he can build some semblance of a Major League career for himself. But despite the oohs and aahs over his alleged breakout season last year, I don’t see any signs of progress. I’m just glad it’s the Orioles pinning their hopes on him instead of my heroes…