Baker likes ex-Cubs

Dusty Baker went to Cincinnati last year. This was his first managerial job after parting ways with the Cubs. He decided to bring some of the ex-Cubs who we didn’t miss in Chicago. For his first season he brought Corey Patterson Paul Bako, and Jerry Hariston Jr.

Corey Patterson signed a minor league contract and made the club out of spring training where he batted 293 with a 341 OBP in 14 games and 41 at-bats. He always plays a gold glove center field. Dusty Baker was so impressed he made him the everyday center fielder where he rewarded Dusty for making a good decision by batting .205 with a .238 OBP, 17 doubles, 10 homeruns, and 14 stolen bases in a whopping 366 at bats over 135 games. Why did he get so much playing time with those numbers when some of the young outfielder they have could have been playing?

Dusty didn’t have a good option at catcher. He had David Ross, Javier Valentin (who can rake), and ex-Cub Paul Bako (now curr ent Cub). He gave the majority of the playing time to………….the ex-Cub in Paul Bako. Bako led all Reds in as-bats with 299 in 99 games while batting .217 with 6 homeruns, 30 runs scored, and 35 RBI’s. David Ross got the next most playing time at catcher in 52 games and 134 at-bats with three homeruns, 13 RBI’s, and batted .231. Javier Valentin played in 94 games with 194 at-bats while being the biggest threat at the plate with his .256 average, but he is a terrible defensive catcher. David Ross and Paul Bako are both pretty similar as defensive catcher’s, but Dusty choose to play his former Cub Bako!

Jerry Hariston did have a good year so I can’t fault Dusty on playing him. I can only fault him for not playing him more. Hariston can play centerfield and he should have played him over Patterson! Hariston batted 326 with 6 homers and 36 RBI’s in 261 at-bats.

This year they decided to bring two ex-Cubs in Jacque Jones and Darlye Ward. Jones was released twice last year by the Tigers and Marlins. He batted a combined .147/.239/.207 in 134 plate appearances for both clubs. Jones had laser eye surgery and played winter ball. I guess they think he can rebound since he can see the ball. Ward is a decent bat off the bench who had a down year last year. He batted 216/.319/.402 in 119 plate appearances for the Cubs last season. Signing Ward isn’t as bad as thinking Jones has anything left in the tank. The sad thing is there are many better free agents still available. We will see how these moves pay off!