From the Collection: John Patterson, p, Washington Nationals
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Do you remember the mess that was the 1996 Major League Baseball draft?
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At the time, MLB had a rule that once you drafted a player, they held exclusive signing rights to players they drafted until the following year’s draft. But there were procedural deadlines teams had to meet to keep those rights. Under MLB draft rules at the time, teams were required to send written contract offers to their drafted players within 15 days of the draft. If a team failed to do so, the player immediately became a free agent. Thing was, it was more of a formality, and it was rarely enforced.
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Enter Scott Boras. Two weeks following the draft, Boras filed a grievance with the MLB Players Association on behalf of four players he represented, saying that the teams that drafted them busted the 15-day window and they should be granted free agency. These players were all high picks: Travis Lee (1st-round pick, Minnesota Twins), Bobby Seay (1st-round pick, Chicago White Sox), Matt White (1st-round pick, San Francisco Giants), John Patterson (5th round pick, Texas Rangers).
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It worked, and all were granted free agency. MLB changed the rules to assure it would not happen again.
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Each player ended up getting a free agent deal worth substantially more than they would have likely gotten with the draft slot bonus. Matt White got $10.2 million from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Travis Lee got $10 million from the Arizona Diamondbacks. John Patterson got $6.075 million from the Montreal Expos, and Bobby Seay got $3 million from the Detroit Tigers.
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Of course, in retrospect, it did not work out in the long term for the teams. Travis Lee and Bobby Seay made the majors but were average at best. Matt White never made it to the majors.
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John Patterson also struggled, largely due to injury. But of all the players, he had the single most valuable season in the majors. In 2005 he went 9-7 with the Washington Nationals over 198.1 innings, only allowing 172 hits while striking out 185. Good for 4.8 WAR. He was good! But he was plagued with arm issues and never was able to replicate his amazing 2005 season. It’s a shame. He retired following the 2007 season.