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SURPRISE, Ariz. -- John Patterson quickly found a new job.
The right-hander agreed to a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers on Monday, four days after he was released by the Washington Nationals.
Patterson, Washington's opening-day starter last year, was 0-2 with a 7.00 ERA in three spring starts for the Nationals. Slowed by nerve damage in his right forearm that limited him to 15 starts the past two seasons, he was 1-5 with a 7.47 ERA in 2007. He spent five months on the disabled list.
The 30-year-old Patterson, the fifth overall pick in the 1996 amateur draft, had his best season in 2005, going 9-7 with a 3.13 ERA for Washington. He tied for seventh in the NL in strikeouts per nine innings (8.4) and ranked eighth in opponents' batting average (.233).
