On the Sunday of Life (Or Maybe Just Baseball)

Andrew Reilly · Posted on

After crashing fairly hard after the hot start no one – as in, NO ONE – saw coming, Joe Crede gets a much-deserved day off today, with Pablo Ozuna starting at the hot corner. Crede, who we all remember was absolutely untradable just six weeks ago, now leads the American League in home runs, is second in RBI, and sits near the top of the standings for a handful of other batting figures.

This is not a good thing.

Even after the fourth straight off-season filled with talk of misunderstandings, crossed signals between Sox brass and Crede’s representation, and the supposed mutual love between player and organization, the following remain true:

  • The Sox have a proven ML-ready third baseman tearing up AAA pitching right now.
  • Said prospect can’t be moved back to the outfield, as the Good Guys already have seven outfielders.
  • Crede’s agent is still Scott Boras, who Sox management have expressed nothing short of all-consuming hatred for.
  • After all the talk of multi-year deals after 2005, team and agent struck a one year deal for the 2006 season. And again for the 2007 season. And again for the 2008 season.

Arbitration semantics aside, what all of this really suggests is any (or all) of a player, agent, and organization that doesn’t really want or need what the other is selling. Boras and Crede both know there’s a killing to be made with this winter’s coming dearth of free agent talent, and the Sox know they’ve got Josh Fields at the ready.

Unfortunately, what the Sox also have is a minor resurgence of last year’s problems: Mike MacDougal is still hit or miss; the latest addition to the South Side chapter of the Royals Alumni Association is a mess; five of nine starters are hitting below .250.

It’s true they’re winning, and that’s always cause for celebration, but everyone knows they’re simply not going to be able to tank and win at the same time. The bats are slow out of the gate, the rotation is either lights-out or five-and-dive, the bullpen is shaping up to be shaky, and all the while the Sox have an extra third baseman they can’t get rid of just yet even though they need to turn him into bullpen help. New outfielders aside, has anything really changed since last September?