Stupid is as Center Field Does

Frankly, I don't care that Corey Patterson has been "playing better" as of late. Sure, he has been hitting the ball a little better and his average is rising. But he is still, fundamentally, as unsound of a ballplayer as I have ever seen for a regular. His baserunning screw up late in the game yesterday only further cements the notion: Corey Patterson is a stupid ballplayer.

This is a guy that has not learned how to play the game. Trying to steal down 5? With your core hitters coming up? This guy gets erased on the basepaths so often you'd think that Arnold Schwarzenegger and Vanessa Williams were on base with him. At Friday's game, Corey nearly de-leg-itated Sosa on a ball that was Sosa's to play.

How long will Jim Hendry put up with Corey Gump?

Left Out

As to where to upgrade the offense, the answer may be somewhere other than center or short stop. Moises Alou has been "reverting to the mean" lately. Maybe a leadoff hitter could be acquired and Alou could be dumped? Salaries would clearly be an issue, but Alou could go to an AL contender as he can DH if need be.

:::UPDATE:::
Look at these numbers. Not pretty.

DATE    AB   R   H  2B   3B  HR  RBI  BB  SO   OBP   SLG   OPS    AVG

April   83  15  30   8    1   7   20   6  10  0.400 0.735 1.135  0.361

May    113  15  34   4    0   6   15   5  11  0.331 0.496 0.826  0.301

June    99  16  20   4    0   5   12   7  16  0.255 0.394 0.649  0.202

They should not be saying "Alou!" anymore.