Joe Crede and the White Sox avoided arbitration,
agreeing to a one-year, $5.1 million deal. The new contract gives Crede a $160,000 raise, a fraction of the $2 million increase he earned the previous offseason, when
he was also the last one to sign.
For a while, it looked like we might be heading towards the first White Sox arbitration showdown since Keith Foulke won his case in 2001. Instead, we will wait for the bloody conclusion to the Crede saga, which will likely happen once he proves himself healthy during spring training.
I'm anticipating two levels of drama. The first will be shots fired at Scott Boras, accompanied perhaps by some indirect ones toward Crede. The Boras/Crede camp may lob some verbal grenades in return.
The second will be the outcries of Sox fans and media when Crede's return is a pitcher nobody has heard of, when some were hoping for
Matt Cain or pooh-poohing
the idea of Bill Hall.
Either way, it'll be sad to see. I've already written part of the eulogy in my head.
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Bobby Jenks is
the sixth Sox to be previewed for the 2008 season.
And in other pitching news, well-regarded pitching coach J.R. Perdew
received a promotion from Winston-Salem to Birmingham. Tip of the hat goes to
South Side Sox.