Hell No, Don't Trade Joe
The hot stove talk is heating up and one of the biggest pieces to the White Sox rebuilding (or retooling or reloading 
or whatever) puzzle is a third baseman that may or not be damaged goods. The upside is with Joe Crede you get a third baseman, who when healthy, can hit thirty home runs, drive in 100 and pick it at third. The question for teams in the trade market is do you take a one year chance on a guy with a bad back who is recovering from surgery and may or may not be able to perform at his previous levels. Plus, he's represented by Scott Boras, which has turned three quarters of the teams in baseball off anyway. Add to that Kenny Williams reputation (founded or not) of peddling damaged goods just as they are about to break down (Mike Sirotka, Freddie Garcia) and you realize there is really not an easy solution.
In addition to everything outlined above, your ROI for a player like Crede is at an all-time low. You can't get anything more for him than somebody else's problem. Johnny Damon is not the Johnny Damon who led the Red Sox to glory in 2004. He's not even the same Johnny Damon he was with Oakland. So, is there a point, besides dumping a potential walk away free agent in trading one damaged commodity for another? In this case, no.
While many Sox fans are drinking the Josh Fields kool-aid, the fact is Fields needs a lot of work on defense at third base. And, while you can't really see it unless you look for it, Joe Crede is a player who saves countless runs a year going to his right, across his body and over to first base. Even if he doesn't throw out the runner, he's saved a double, which means the other team has one less runner is scoring position. Fields, at this point in his career, couldn't go to his right if their were snipers on the roof of U.S. Commiskey Park with orders to shoot him if anything stoppable got down the line.
Whether or not Crede is able to play at a high level consistently and without pain following his surgery is anyone's guess. If you ask Boras, Crede can leap tall buildings in a single bound. Boras is one of the reasons that Crede didn't have the surgery last off season, thinking that rest would solve the problem and that Crede would have a productive 2007 which would lead to a lucrative 2008. This didn't happen and now the question marks and the truth about Crede's condition swirl.
One thing is an absolute fact: If he's healthy, the White Sox are a much better team with Joe Crede than without him. Should you acquire Aaron Rowand or Torii Hunter, you can use Fields in left for now or platoon him with Jerry Owens or whatever. But if this team is going to get off to a better start than they did in 2007, Joe Crede needs to be at third base. If 2008 turns into 2007, you have the option of trading him after you've built up a desire in the market for him based on his play, not on his reputation. At that point, you can move Fields back to third and hope that someone, anyone, can teach the kid how to move his feet.
Kenny has several other bargaining chips at this point. Brian Anderson. Ryan Sweeney. Gio Gonzalez. MIKE MACUSELESS. Perhaps some of them may bring Kenny what he really needs: Someone who can shut people down from the bullpen.
For now, moving Joe Crede makes no sense. Nor does trading Josh Fields. Nor does keeping anyone in the bullpen not named Jenks. That hot stove is getting pretty hot right now.
Lightning Round
or whatever) puzzle is a third baseman that may or not be damaged goods. The upside is with Joe Crede you get a third baseman, who when healthy, can hit thirty home runs, drive in 100 and pick it at third. The question for teams in the trade market is do you take a one year chance on a guy with a bad back who is recovering from surgery and may or may not be able to perform at his previous levels. Plus, he's represented by Scott Boras, which has turned three quarters of the teams in baseball off anyway. Add to that Kenny Williams reputation (founded or not) of peddling damaged goods just as they are about to break down (Mike Sirotka, Freddie Garcia) and you realize there is really not an easy solution.In addition to everything outlined above, your ROI for a player like Crede is at an all-time low. You can't get anything more for him than somebody else's problem. Johnny Damon is not the Johnny Damon who led the Red Sox to glory in 2004. He's not even the same Johnny Damon he was with Oakland. So, is there a point, besides dumping a potential walk away free agent in trading one damaged commodity for another? In this case, no.
While many Sox fans are drinking the Josh Fields kool-aid, the fact is Fields needs a lot of work on defense at third base. And, while you can't really see it unless you look for it, Joe Crede is a player who saves countless runs a year going to his right, across his body and over to first base. Even if he doesn't throw out the runner, he's saved a double, which means the other team has one less runner is scoring position. Fields, at this point in his career, couldn't go to his right if their were snipers on the roof of U.S. Commiskey Park with orders to shoot him if anything stoppable got down the line.
Whether or not Crede is able to play at a high level consistently and without pain following his surgery is anyone's guess. If you ask Boras, Crede can leap tall buildings in a single bound. Boras is one of the reasons that Crede didn't have the surgery last off season, thinking that rest would solve the problem and that Crede would have a productive 2007 which would lead to a lucrative 2008. This didn't happen and now the question marks and the truth about Crede's condition swirl.
One thing is an absolute fact: If he's healthy, the White Sox are a much better team with Joe Crede than without him. Should you acquire Aaron Rowand or Torii Hunter, you can use Fields in left for now or platoon him with Jerry Owens or whatever. But if this team is going to get off to a better start than they did in 2007, Joe Crede needs to be at third base. If 2008 turns into 2007, you have the option of trading him after you've built up a desire in the market for him based on his play, not on his reputation. At that point, you can move Fields back to third and hope that someone, anyone, can teach the kid how to move his feet.
Kenny has several other bargaining chips at this point. Brian Anderson. Ryan Sweeney. Gio Gonzalez. MIKE MACUSELESS. Perhaps some of them may bring Kenny what he really needs: Someone who can shut people down from the bullpen.
For now, moving Joe Crede makes no sense. Nor does trading Josh Fields. Nor does keeping anyone in the bullpen not named Jenks. That hot stove is getting pretty hot right now.
Lightning Round
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- I saw this video and I thought it was hysterical. And the ending is not what you think. BTW, forget the politics on it, the video is just funny.
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