There was an interesting signing spree in the Spring Training this Monday when the Reds roped in two veterans, Corey Patterson and Jerry Hairston Jr, to sign Minor League contracts. Patterson was invited to the camp as a non roster player and Hairston will be admitted to the big league camp. The Reds General Manager said that the two players will be able to share their experiences with the other players and will help the team to stay in better shape this season. Patterson and Hairston are among the many veteran players who have been unsigned by the big league camps.

Patterson has spent the 2000 to 2005 season with the Cubs and has been under Reds Manager, Dusty Baker, for two years during his stint with the Cubs. Patterson can be a dangerous proposition in the role of a leadoff hitter and his record of 45 bases in 2006 and 37 bases in 2007 season talks’ volumes of his capabilities with the bat. Hairston has spent his early career playing for the Orioles from 1998 to 2004 and player under Baker for the Chicago in 2005-06. His last season record shows 183 hitter with 16 RBIs and three homers. His experience at all three outfield positions will come in handy for the Reds this season.

Chone Figgins had a dream run in 2007 season which made him the sixth best in the American League and he still feels that he has to travel a long way in order to achieve his goal of being the best leadoff hitter the game has ever seen. The third baseman said that there’s always room for improvement and trying to become a better player is part of achieving the set goal. He feels that he will have to be at his best every year in order to be classified as an all time leadoff hitter. The Angels leadoff hitter hit .156 in May last season and followed it up with .461 in June and was the baseball majors’ number one hitter from May 31 till the end of the season.

His first full stint for the Los Angeles Angels was the 2007 season where he had 41 steals in 115 matches. Mike Scioscia, the manager of Angels, feels that Figgins has got all that it needs to be the all time leadoff hitter. Figgins spends extra time at Tempe, Ariz, to improve his hitting skills and he is looking for guidance from everyone including former players to better his batting. Figgins aims at bettering his 2007 season record and his aim is to score a lot of runs in the 2008 season.