posted on Wednesday, March 19, 2008 3:32 AM
by
Jim
If Crede can't start, maybe he can finish
Go figure: The Sox have one homegrown position player prospect with the potential of All-Star-caliber offense, and he'll start in Charlotte for a third straight season because he's buried behind a third baseman with a bad back.
That scenario isn't quite reality yet, but
Josh Fields should prepare for it:
TUCSON, Ariz. - Third baseman Joe Crede has timing issues that aren't
limited to whether the White Sox trade him before the start of the
regular season.
And those concerns need to be resolved soon because it's becoming
increasingly likely that Crede rather than Josh Fields will be the
team's starter on Opening Day.
Crede is a notoriously slow starter who eventually warms up by the end
of spring training, but a lengthy layoff because of his season-ending
back surgery has him searching for results.
By no means is this the worst thing in the world. The presence of Crede at third will make work easier for both Sox pitchers and Orlando Cabrera, and as long as he's got his throwing issues under control, his glove should make up for his bat...
...unless he's closer to the .088 hitter he was in the middle of Tuesday's game instead of the .230 hitter he was in 2004 and most of 2005. As Brian Anderson proved, there's only so much a glove can do.
There's one way the Sox could work around it. If Crede can't right himself offensively and the Sox have no takers for him, it might make more sense to use him as a defensive replacement. Fields could start at third against righties and replace Jim Thome as DH versus lefties, with Crede getting regular time against lefties and late-inning appearances.
It wouldn't force Ozzie to expand his bench past four men, in theory. Toby Hall and Pablo Ozuna are locks, and either Brian Anderson or Carlos Quentin would serve as the fourth outfielder. Fields, potentially in place of Alexei Ramirez, might limit the versatility, but the Sox would still be deep enough at most positions:
- Shortstop: Orlando Cabrera, Juan Uribe, Ozuna
- Second base: Uribe, Ozuna
- Center field: Jerry Owens, Anderson, Nick Swisher
- First base: Paul Konerko, Swisher, Ozuna
- Third base: Fields, Crede, Uribe, Ozuna
This bench would maximize Ozuna's worth, too -- if they're going to hand a player of his limited ability a multi-year contract, they may as well get the most out of it.
It depends on what the Sox feel they have with Ramirez, who would make the Sox three deep at all those positions, regardless of Anderson:
- Shortstop: Cabrera, Uribe, Ramirez, Ozuna
- Second base: Uribe, Ozuna, Ramirez
- Center field: Owens, Anderson, Ramirez, Swisher
- Third base: Crede, Uribe, Ozuna
Ozzie Guillen loves deploying his utility men (except for Rob Mackowiak, who he effectively disarmed), but in the American League, flexibility reaches a threshold where it becomes redundant after a certain point. If they got away with starting Joe Crede at short and Chris Widger at third for a game in 2005, they could similarly stretch themselves again with ultimately no harm done.
Of course, the Sox could accommodate both Fields and Ramirez by only carrying 11 pitchers, but that's not going to happen anytime soon.
For now, I suppose all one can do is hope Crede hits enough in the majors, Fields keeps hitting in the minors, and the glove helps the Sox win enough games to make up for one year of Fields' service time.