Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker asked a quick favor as his first comment of Saturday morning to the media: “Please don’t compare Jacque Jones to Corey Patterson.”
It isn’t clear what exactly he meant...
Apparently this is a response to what Hall o' Famer Hal wrote earlier. Jacque Jams is only hitting .087/.192/.087 so far this spring, and he has 23 ABs (Jeff Keppinger leads the team with 25). Chris Dickerson, Jones' competition for a roster spot, has 23 ABs as well, but he is tearing the cover off the ball to the tune of .348/.407/.696. So they are both getting a fair shot, but it is clear that Dickerson is not only younger and cheaper, but he is also proving to be the superior player. At least, by the metric of ST performance.
Now, it is clear Baker is personally pulling for his ol' buddy Jacque. I dont ipso facto have a problem with this, i mean, these guys aren't robots (unfortunately). They have feelings. But if Dusty lets this crap get in the way of putting together the most competitive ballclub (like he did with Corey Patterson) I will be none too pleased. So Dusty, please don't give us reason to compare Jacque Jams to Corey "Two-Pitch At-Bat"erson and then we won't. It's that easy.