As for Patterson, he has a .291 OBP over the last 3 seasons.  If he even sniffs the lead-off spot, I'll be pissed.

That is to say, if I were the Reds Manager, Krivsky would confuse me for a batboy, the clubhouse manager might occasionally compliment my for punctual arrival at the ballpark, I might occasionally think I am doing a good job, I would often wonder if anyone cared how I filled out the lineup card, and I would field a team compiled completely of Dominicans.

And no, Corey Patterson, would not be on my team. (And not just because he is not Dominican)  

(The cool thing was in his '07 game logs.  The splits are just Corey Patterson splits. FWIW, he played better in July and August.)

As far as Hamilton, I don't think anyone hailed it as a great trade. Most of us were sad to see him go but realized it was a decent time to sell because of his significant injury risk. Plus we had Bruce, but now we don't. We have corey Patterson

Of course, the other problem is who Patterson is blocking.  This is a winnable division, and starting Bruce helps us the most.  Whether doing so stunts his growth is debatable, but if that's what they were worried about I would've held onto Hamilton.  

Josh Hamilton tears up the league and is traded for a guy who's never shown an ability to get major league batters out, and you hail it as a great trade

I quickly perused the thread from the day of the trade, and I have a hard time finding anyone who thinks it was a great trade.  I think the general theme was "I'm not happy about it, but at least they got back someone with some upside."  Plus, as boobs said the upside was supposed to be an open spot for Bruce.

when the team has to scramble for a CF, you wail when we give a minor league deal to the best option out there.

Why did the team have to scramble?  How is Patterson that much of an upgrade over the players already in house?  Frankly, I trust Freel and Hopper's ability to get on base a lot more than Patterson.  And you know with Dusty, whoever is playing from those three is batting lead-off.  I'd definitely rather either of the other two in that spot than Patterson.

And if Patterson was the best option available, so what?  That doesn't make him a good player.  Over the last three seasons, these are the players with the worst OPS+ (min 1200 PAs):
 Cnt Player            OPS+   PA  From  To
+----+-----------------+----+-----+----+----+
    1 Adam Everett        65  1397 2005 2007
    2 Brad Ausmus         67  1350 2005 2007
    3 Yadier Molina       69  1278 2005 2007
    4 Nick Punto          70  1499 2005 2007
    5 Royce Clayton       71  1291 2005 2007
    6 Aaron Miles         72  1267 2005 2007
    7 Miguel Olivo        76  1202 2005 2007
    8 Corey Patterson     76  1482 2005 2007
    9 Craig Counsell      78  1419 2005 2007
   10 Jason Kendall       78  1816 2005 2007

There are some bad hitters on that list.  Outside of Everett and Molina for their defense, would you want any of them on the Reds?

As for the minor league deal, all that means is that they don't have to guarantee him money yet.  It doesn't mean that he won't make a couple million if he makes the team.  Obviously, there is no sense in speculating on the amount of money, but my point is that it's only a low-risk deal if they decide not to keep him.

And with Jr. always a step away from another DL trip, having another decent OF in the organization is a plus - if he takes Dewayne Wise's job, I won't shed any tears.

boobs already touched on this one, but I wanted to point out that I find it very unlikely that Patterson will actually spend any time in the minors.  I could be wrong, but I expect him to make the team and start in CF and lead-off 3-4 times a week.  I don't see it as adding depth to the outfield.  I see it as adding a bad player to the lineup, and that's why I don't like it.

But looking at the Reds and Dusty Baker, I just do not trust them to use Corey Patterson responsibly--as a pinch runner/late innings defensive replacement. He really doesn't give the Reds much of anything they need as a pinch hitter either.

If he makes the big club, he'll probably end up starting. If he starts, he'll probably be 1 or 2 in the lineup.

He has to become a completely different offensive player for that to be anything but a negative.