FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) -Joe Crede was in the clubhouse before his first workout with the Minnesota Twins when manager Ron Gardenhire entered the room and gave a brief but glowing introduction to his new team.
“Welcome, Mr. Crede. Now that you’ve killed us as much as you have, now it’s time for you to help us kill other people,” Gardenhire said later, recalling his remarks pointing to Crede’s past success against the Twins. “And that’s about all we need to say.”
Joining fellow All-Star Justin Morneau in a batting practice group after going through the usual fielding fundamentals, Crede got some hacks in against hard-throwing closer Joe Nathan and began to get comfortable with his former heated division rivals.
After spending his entire career with the Chicago White Sox and serving as their regular third baseman since the summer of 2002, Crede officially switched sides Sunday when he signed a one-year contract worth between $2.5 and $7 million depending on how much he’s on the field.
‘ Crede said, adding: “I really admired the way they play. I knew my style was going to fit in.”
Crede has already begun thinking about how strange it will be to play Chicago 18 times this season, and how he’ll have to remind himself which dugout to head for after scoring a run. Shortly after the deal was done, Crede spoke with White Sox stalwart Paul Konerko about the potential awkwardness of facing old friends.
“He said it’s only going to get awkward when me and (Brian Anderson) are yelling at you from the dugout,” Crede said.
Crede’s contract is unique. It includes a base salary of $2.5 million and escalators based on playing time that push the value up in $500,000 increments. The incentives kick in at 250 plate appearances. If he gets 540 plate appearances or more, he’ll make $7 million.
The reason for that, and for his availability so late in the winter, is his historically bad back. He’s had two major surgeries in the past two years, the last in October, and played in only 144 games with 502 at-bats over 2007 and 2008.
“There is concern,” general manager Bill Smith acknowledged. “This is a good deal for both sides. It provides us with the protection we need, and it provides him with the upside he was looking for.”
, and checked out all right. There are currently no restrictions on Crede’s workload.
“We told him, ‘If you feel like you need to back off for a second, back off,”’ Gardenhire said, “but he didn’t back off anything. He stayed right with everything. He went out there relaxed. The whole package.”
Crede said he’s “pretty close” to 100 percent. Running lags behind the other parts of his game in the return to full strength.
“But I’m not going to burn up the bases this season anyway,” said Crede, who has four stolen bases in 798 career games.
No, his best tools are power and fielding, as the Twins can attest. Crede helped the White Sox win the World Series in 2005 by hitting 22 homers and playing his usual sound and sometimes-spectacular defense, and the next season was his best: 30 homers, 94 RBIs and a .283 average.
In 40 at-bats against Minnesota last year, Crede hit .400 with seven homers and 17 RBIs.
“He looked pretty big when he was hitting those home runs in our bullpen out in Chicago,” Gardenhire said.
Though the White Sox chose not to bring the 30-year-old Crede back with prospect Josh Fields waiting to take over, manager Ozzie Guillen frequently praised his glove. Since the start of 2003, Crede’s .963 fielding percentage is sixth-best in the majors among third basemen. The 20 errors he made in 97 games last year were mostly chalked up to his physical problems.
ugh players and coaches frequently praised holdovers Brian Buscher and Brendan Harris, who were in line to platoon at the position before Crede arrived, the Twins were excited about what his addition can do for the lineup and infield. His right-handed power could be a big boost to lefties Morneau and Joe Mauer.
And, health permitting, Gardenhire has a player he can pencil in the lineup at a position that’s been difficult for the Twins to fill of late. Crede will be the 19th different player to play third for Minnesota since Corey Koskie departed after the 2004 season.
“If you can find it, go get it. If you can’t, don’t worry about it,” Gardenhire said, recalling the team’s offseason strategy. “Well, we found somebody that we like pretty good. We’ll see.”
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