Earlier today the blogger formerly known as Postman E touched a bit on Reds' fans' frustration with the Reds (and, most probably, Dusty Baker) signing Jerry Hairston Jr. and Corey Patterson to compete for the centerfield job, presumably with über prospect Jay Bruce. Given Baker's history with Patterson, it is a bit of a suspicious move, though given Bruce's young age it doesn't bother me that much. What does bother me is the implication in this article that because Patterson failed as a young prospect with the Cubs, Bruce will have the same problem with the Reds. When Patterson was called up in 2000 at the age of 20, he was in the middle of hitting .261/.329/.491 in AA. That's a good, but it's not particularly great. He then struggled at AAA the next year at age 21 and never found his stride again. All-in-all, Patterson had one great year in the minors at the age of 19 in A ball. The Cubs simply never bothered to find out if that year was a fluke. Bruce, on the other hand, tore up three levels last year at the age of 20, culminating in a 50 game stretch in AAA in which he hit.305/.358/.567. He's hit for power, average, and shown good patience at every level he's played at. There's really no reason to believe he's not a superstar waiting to happen.
The Reds are absolutely justified if they start Bruce out in AAA this year. He doesn't even have 300 plate appearances above A ball and he's only 21. If they feel he's not ready, they should keep him in AAA and get him more plate appearances there. But they shouldn't keep him in AAA because Corey Patterson struggled. That's like comparing apples and corkscrews and it's not really fair to either player.
