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No Crede Trade Imminent
Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune reports that it's become "increasingly likely" that Joe Crede will get the Opening Day nod at third base for the White Sox, with Josh Fields heading to Triple A. It's an unfortunate situation for the 25 year-old Fields, who doesn't have much left to learn in the minors. Gonzales adds that trade talks with the Giants have "all but ceased," and the Dodgers don't seem all that interested either.
Crede is trying to shake off the rust (his last regular season game was June 4th of last year) and prove he's an above average third baseman worthy of his $5.1MM salary. It seems that Crede's audition will extend into April or May. If he plays decently and a few teams suffer injuries or ineffectiveness at the hot corner, maybe Kenny Williams will get the return he wants. Who knows - if Crede has a hot start, maybe the White Sox will decide to let him play out the season and have Fields work on his defense at Charlotte. Or, Ozzie Guillen could pursue an interesting strategy posed by Sox Machine, where Crede is a defensive replacement.
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I'm definitely a fan of Crede, but it seems crazy to "waste" Fields in the minors. At the same time, I'm sure the White Sox will get more for Crede at or near the deadline than they would now since the offers seem very weak.
Posted by: chisox1631 | March 19, 2008 at 09:37 AM
Crede is definitely overvalued by White Sox fans and Ken Williams. That's why the offers seem weak to you--he's not worth what you think. He has two strengths--excellent fielding and some power, though not extraordinary power. He has two extreme weaknesses--a terrible OBP and very unreliable health. Without the health questions, he would be a decent player on a good team--not a star, but a decent everyday guy. With the health questions, a team with championship aspirations has to think him much too great a risk to give up anything substantial. A non-contender has no reason to accept the risk. The Giants, for instance, had a younger, cheaper version of Crede, and without the health risk, in Pedro Feliz, and chose to let him walk away.
Posted by: Playwright | March 19, 2008 at 09:48 AM
You could say that he is being overvalued at this point, but I think if there were more suitors out there that wouldn't be said. 5 million for an above average 3B is not a bad deal. He should have a couple of gold gloves already and his power numbers are more than respectable. Of course your argument, which is a good one, is his health. We'll see what happens with that. He seems good at the moment and I believe once his timing is down (2 hits yesterday) he can be a real asset again.
Posted by: chisox1631 | March 19, 2008 at 10:09 AM
Playwright: all correct, except for Feliz's age. He's older. Well, and his bat is even stinkier, but his glove compensates by being even slicker. Net-net, though, both are equivalent producers.
cs1631, $5m for an above-average 3B is not a bad deal. Crede isn't one. Feliz is signed for $4m a year, and comes with zero injury risk and the flexibility to play all around the infield in a pinch.
Healthy, fielding well and hitting for his career OPS+ around 90, Crede could be a real asset to a contender whose staff throws a lot of ground balls, but only if he's priced right. Start at $4m and discount for injury risk.
I'm just glad my team didn't pick him up. A noncontending team has no business wasting money on overpriced hackers like Crede. Unfortunately, my team's GM is an idiot.
Posted by: wcw | March 19, 2008 at 10:54 AM
Please give up the senseless arguement of saying that Feliz is equal or better than Crede. Crede's career power numbers are almost better...in 170 less games! OBP, average, and fielding pct. are all better too. And...Crede is 3 years younger. You can throw the health issue back at me, but Feliz should not be mentioned in the same sentence as Crede. I'm also glad Crede wasn't traded to your team for a box of baseballs too.
Posted by: chisox1631 | March 19, 2008 at 11:56 AM
arod, wright, cabrera, aram, figgins, atkins, jones, zimmerman, beltre, lowell, glaus, and rolen. i would definitely take any of those guys over crede. also gordon, feliz, longoria, encarnacion, blalock, and kouzmanoff should all be very similar players. crede is not above average and hes a free agent at the end of the year. why would anyone else want him? if they want him wait until the end of the year and sign him.
Posted by: Joelcards | March 19, 2008 at 12:19 PM
Worst thing the White Sox could do is start Crede and send Fields down. After their crappy bullpen, their biggest problem last year was their OBP. Crede starting does not help fix this problem. Cabrera, with his lifetime OBP, does not fix this problem. And if the rumors about starting Uribe at second are accurate, their infield OBP is going to be terrible. And then their is Owens.
Fields should be allowed to continue his development. Of the two, he is the only one that gives the team a chance for good production from that position.
Sounds like they are putting what they can get for Crede, over the best interest of the team.
Posted by: sweetswingingbw | March 19, 2008 at 12:24 PM
Thanks, wcw, for the correction. It only seems that Feliz should be younger. As I said, though--and I don't mean to knock Crede--healthy, he works as a complementary player on a contender, but his health would just be too iffy for me if I were a contending General Manager. If I weren't a contender, I don't see the upside.
Posted by: Playwright | March 19, 2008 at 12:32 PM
Hey I've got an idea..why don't you keep both? Why would you trade one of your best players in the last few years including the playoffs..because of an injury..how about trading Paulie who would bring what Kenny wants in return and move Josh to 1st base? It will be July before K gets rolling anyway, by that time you could be in first place, they Tigers are overrated.
Posted by: jrreid | March 19, 2008 at 01:49 PM
Hallelujah! Good job Sabean for not trading for Joe Crede! This for Sabean is the best thing he has done for a while.
Posted by: Nick_Swisher_For_MVP | March 19, 2008 at 05:37 PM
jrreid - i love the comment that Crede is being shopped just "because of an injury" - like he had shin splints or something.
The guy has a screwed up back. Not so easy to come back from. Before he went under the knife he was awful. Since he has returned from the slab he has been awful.
There is a really good chance that Crede never plays up to his historic levels again. And when you are, historically, in the bottom 3rd offensively at your position that doesn't bode well.
Keeping Crede does three things to your team.
1. Incur the cost of his $5m salary
2. Block Fields
3. Run the risk of further damaging his trade value
On a side note - I find it highly ironic that you are touting the greatness of Crede but then state that the Tigers are overrated. Think you have the two confused. The Tigers are for real. White Sox fans who think they will compete with the Tigers are living in a fantasy world.
Posted by: bjsguess | March 19, 2008 at 05:44 PM
If Crede were to get hot, would the Sox consider moving Fields?
Posted by: The Juice | March 19, 2008 at 06:38 PM
Yay!
Fields really needs to work on some things anyway. Another 4 months in AAA will do him good. We're not "wasting" his talent in any way, we're still trying to cultivate it.
I'm excited now. Although I will have to drop Fields from one of my fantasy teams.....for Crede. :)
Posted by: astralpanda | March 19, 2008 at 06:39 PM
bjsguess, first off, no one was going to take on Crede's full salary anyway. Second, his value is at all all time low right now, it can only get higher and it can't get any worse than being offered Randy Messenger OR Dave Roberts. Keeping Crede right now is the logical decision.
Posted by: gogopalehose | March 19, 2008 at 06:47 PM
There are two competing philosophies at work here.
I understand the desire on Chicago's part to showcase Crede and eventually deal him for a viable offer.
But in the process, they DO stunt Field's growth at the major league level. If you're looking to the future, you play Fields and sit Crede on the bench. He's not your concern; the future of the Sox are. If you get an offer, fine. If not, you're still letting Fields polish his fielding and get used to playing in the bigs.
The other thing I'm curious about: whatever happened to the three way deal? If two teams don't have a fit, bring in a third.
Posted by: Devlsh | March 19, 2008 at 11:21 PM