The Twins signed 3rd basemen Joe Crede to a one-year 2.5 million dollar contract and with incentives could be worth up to $7 million. Lately, I have not been giving Bill Smith much credit and still not going to, but the way the contract is structured he did a good job in this case. The contract is low risk and unlike Tony Bautista, Rondell White and others Crede has the skills to still produce. Unlike many Twins fans I am not jumping for joy with this signing. Twins fans hear the name Joe Crede and and get excited simply because he has home run potential. If you look at the stats you will clearly see that a platoon of Buscher/Harris would of been just fine and in some cases better. Do not forget that Crede in the last two years has played a total of 144 games.
Crede is known for playing good defense and hitting the ball out of the park. He has never hit for a high average, with .283 in 2006 being his high and only real standout year. Crede's average splits are not all the impressive and some could say mediocre .257/.306/.447. Crede also does not get on base that often and getting on base has always been what the Twins do well. Crede also does not hit lefties sporting a .257 career average. Early in his career he hit lefties well, but within the last few years has struggled. Some might say that is because of his back, only time will tell.
If you look at Busher/Harris you can see why the platoon would of been alright. Buscher is a .297 carrer hitter against righties and Harris is .296 career hitter against lefties. Both averages are higher then Crede's career averages and the average splits of a 3rd basemen in 2008 of .266/.336/.447.
If you watched any Twins games last year you know that Buscher/Harris are not solid fielders and at times looked awful. So on defense they would give up some runs compared to the average 3rd basemen and even Crede who is an elite fielder. The platoon though had the potential to make up for it on offense and with the combined salaries of Buscher/Harris under $1 million compared to the potential $7 million of Crede, it looks like a better deal to simply use the platoon.
The Twins though are looking at the deal thinking that if Crede plays 140 games that he will be worth $7 million. Many people in town think Crede will not only drive in 100 hundred runs, which he has never done, but hit high in the order. Throughout his career Crede has the most at bats in the 7th and 6th spot in the order. He is not a OBP player and in a lineup where you have guys (Span, Mauer, Morneau) that get on base, hitting in the bottom of the order is where he needs to be. What I do like is people in the Sox organization coming out saying that he is a Twins type of guy.
Initially I was excited at the prospect of signing Crede, but soon realized the upgrade might not be worth the money. The Twins last year hit extremely well with RISP and to expect that again is asking a lot. So coming in to the year the idea would be to get more men on base and Crede only takes away from that idea. Personally I would be more excited to see Juan Cruz in a Twins uniform. Crede to me is potentially a nice piece to help you make a run, not a guy that can be regarded as "the final piece". So I guess we will all just have to wait and see what develops.
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The Crede signing is tough to call. IF he stays healthy his fielding should be a big plus. His all or nothing batting was probably OK with the White Sox, as that's how the whole team tends to lean. The Twins need high OBP's from their lineup. Am I right or wrong?
ReplyDeleteI'm married, so I'm used to being wrong. Just would be far more excited if Crede sported an OBP > .350 than if he hit 20 HRs with a .310 OBP.
Marv I could not agree with you more. Personally I believe OBP is a great indicator of success. Like you said the Twins are about OBP and the Sox like to hit the homerun. Hopefully it works out for the Twins.
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