Not really sure, he's had a lot of ups and downs, mostly downs. I guess more depth is never a bad thing as long as it's a a good price but I think I'd rather see a younger pitcher get a shot to make the rotation. If Tony won't allow this to happen, I think Patterson is the typical reclamation pick-up the Cards make. I think Duncan already has enough on his plate though..

I just don't think we've got room for him. If they're releasing him, he must've been really screwed up by his injuries. Unfortunately, we've already got Carpenter, Mulder, Clement, Pineiro, Lohse, Reyes, Wainwright, Wellemeyer, Thompson, and the minors around. I don't know where we could keep a guy like Patterson.

Does anyone know if there's any way we could stash him in the minors? Not that we have room in our AA or AAA rotation either...

Meh. I guess he doesn't really fit anywhere. Someone else will grab him up.

Pass.

If we are going to go down this road with the reclamation projects, then go all out.

The guy is 30, he is hurt, when he is healthy, he can pitch. IF, and I realize its a big if, he can get healthy then he has the potential to really contribute on a contending Cardinals team in the future.

I have no idea what he would cost, but if it is reasonable then I would go for it. This is a transition year, so we should audition guys who could be useful next season and beyond.

We have more guys who seem like they have the potential to pitch their way off this staff instead of onto the staff, so we might as well troll the bottom of the scrap heap. Maybe we will find a gem.

reported his fastball tops at about 84, 85. what do we need with a flame thrower like that when we already got P J Walters who knows how to make it work.

Can we please not have posts for every crappy player who gets cut by other teams. Not sure why this guy would even be on our AAA roster. We have a plethora of hurt/rehabbing/fragile pitchers already and need to let our youngsters pitch. This guy has minimal upside as he had ONE good season and that was like 3 seasons ago. And its reported that his velocity is way down this spring.

No

as long and Wainwright, Lohse, and Reyes get their turns, I could care less who is thrown in there. They should all be auditions for next year anyway. Reyes needs to get a year of starting under his belt, sink or swim. I can be talked out of giving a spot to Lohse if something insane happens and we actually get pitching depth, but other than that, why not take shots on a guy like Patterson.

Assuming of course, his arm is still attached to his body. It sounds like that is in question.

From a news report:

"Patterson, who had elbow surgery last year, complained of tightness in his arm this spring and never regained full speed on his fastball.
Patterson, 30, gave up eight runs in his last spring training outing on Sunday against the Orioles. He was 0-2 with a 7.00 ERA in nine innings this spring.
"They told me I didn't blow the doors open and that there were other pitchers pitching better," Patterson told reporters at the Nationals' spring training camp in Viera, Florida, the Major League Web site www.mlb.com reported."

I regret his decline, but there's no way he deserves a Cardinal roster spot at this point.

If the Nationals horrible pitching staff doesn't want him than I for hell don't want him

Patterson, 30, has a career record of 18-25 and a long history of injuries. He has only once made 30 starts in the majors, and has never thrown 200 innings.

that's all I really needed to read from the article linked above to form an opinion: no.

the nats don't have a horrible pitching staff, I'd say it could be on par with the current situation we have with the cards, injuries plague their better starters, and their young guys aren't proven but are very promising, only difference is the nats have room for the young guys at the start of the season while the cards don't.

John patterson's surgery last year decompressed his radial nerve (the nerve that controls some of the arm and the thumb/index/middle/ring fingers) and finally allowed him to become healthy (the nerve was pulling at scar tissue in his upper arm causing pain) So he is pain free now. The problem is getting his velocity back.

The surgery he had basially had a 6 month period to get his velocity back up, and since his surgery was in late september, it's been about 6 months and his velocity is only in the mid 80's for his fastball (should be low 90s) But as we all know when it comes to pitchers, waiting longer and rehabbing longer is normally the best move, as we've seen with carp, mulder, and kinney (broke his arm rehabbing, which just sucked)

Another good thing about patterson is he's cheap, less than a million easily, and he can easily rehab and get his velocity up in extended spring training, High A, and AA games to ensure he can throw in the 90s consistently, I'd say Patterson could fit with any team on a minor league contract if they allowed him to rehab in extended ST, then low A and AA ball, and if he can get his velocity up, have him try a few starts in AAA to face some better competition for a few starts and if he does well, he can come back to the majors and either be a starter or long reliver, I know he's been a starter the past few years but being injured for 2 years could cause a guy to lose some stamina. Would I like patterson to be somewhere in the cards minor leagues rehabbing? Yes of course i do, I remember his 2005, i know he should of had 15 wins that year if the nats had the offence to back him up (a 8.39 K/9 innings is astounding)

... that we are even contemplating picking up the Nationals wash-outs?

no. i still have a shred of pride left.

As far as dumpster dives go, you could do worse. However, I simply don't see space for him right now. Memphis has a couple of guys who need to get innings (like McClellan if he doesn't make the big squad), so dumping a rehabbing guy like Patterson on them is blocking the younger guys. The major league rotation is full and then some, with Waino, Lohse, Reyes, Looper, and Welle in there now with Mulder, Piniero, and Clement waiting in the wings. I just don't see the need for more fecal matter to throw at the proverbial wall.

Is that another way of saying .."costly shit"

reed johnson? if dunc gets hurt since they dont want to play colby why not?