Corey Patterson Agrees To $4.3 million Contract With Orioles
By Michael Williams (2/28/2007)
Corey Patterson avoided arbitration with Baltimore Orioles and has agreed to a one year contract worth $4.3 million.
Last season Patterson has a career high of 45 stolen bases and he batted .276, which was 61 points higher than what he hit in 2005 when he was with the Chicago Cubs. Patterson has hit 16 homeruns with 53 RBIs and he has scored 75 runs.
Patterson is 27 years old and he was asking for $4.6 million while Orioles offered him $4 million. Besides $4.3 million, Patterson will receive another $150,000 each for 500 and 520 plate appearances.
Patterson said he and Orioles were pleased with the contract and now he planned to concentrate on the new season.
Orioles got Patterson in January 2006 in a trade with the Chicago Cubs. Initially, Orioles used him rarely and he was batting at .067. However, in April 2006, Patterson got his opportunity to take center field when David Newhan got injured and by end of April he was batting .286.
On August 2006, Patterson injured his right shoulder while making a catch and was out for 15 games. Other than this, he has stayed in the starting lineup. Patterson’s 45 stolen bases was tied for the third spot in AL. He also had steals in nine straight games and this is the longest streak in MLB since Rickey Henderson had the same run in 1986. Besides this, Patterson has not ground into a double play in 499 plate appearances. According to STATS Inc., this is the sixth highest total without GIDP in the last 73 seasons. |