After winning the Silver Slugger award for third basemen in 2006, Crede was hampered by a back problem that, in retrospect, he should have had corrected by surgery after the 2006 offseason. However, Crede was coming off the best offensive season of his career and didn't want to risk losing out on a long-term contract, so he tried to play through the back problem in 2007.
Two months and a .218 batting average later, Crede decided to have that back surgery. And, because his status was up in the air because of that back surgery, the White Sox were unable to trade him unless they were willing to take Randy Messenger or Scott Williamson from the Giants.
Williams didn't want to just give up Crede for next to nothing, so he decided to keep him on the team and send Josh Fields down to the minors despite hitting 23 home runs in 100 games with the Sox last year.
Benching Crede to open the year would mean the Sox would have an unhappy and un-tradeable third baseman on the team. There really wasn't much the Sox could do because they decided not to non-tender Crede in the offseason, hoping that somebody would bite on a trade.
Crede is a notoriously slow starter, but he'll be on the hot seat from day one, especially if Fields lights it up at AAA. Fields has a very high offensive ceiling and could easily hit 35 home runs over a full MLB season once he cuts down on his strikeouts. While his defense doesn't compare to Crede's, it'll come with time.
A few weeks ago, when it was becoming apparent that Crede was going to be the starter at third, I wrote this article about why Fields should be starting over Crede. Rather than rehashing the whole argument, I'll just link it.
With Owens out, Carlos Quentin appears to be the starter in left. After a slow start, Quentin has upped his batting average to .290 for the spring. He's just 25 and has yet to play more than a half-season in the majors due to his inexperience or an injury.
Arizona had no use for Quentin in their crowded young outfield, so they traded him to the White Sox for Chris Carter, a first baseman who never has played above low-A ball.
If Quentin is given the opportunity to start (read: if Owens is hurt or struggles), he easily could hit .275 with 20-25 home runs out of the No. 8 spot in this White Sox lineup.
Rounding the White Sox lineup for now is Juan Uribe, who was placed on waivers no less than a week ago. He'll start at second base after a good offensive spring, but his track record indicates that it won't carry over to the regular season. With Alexei Ramirez waiting in the wings, a slow start from Uribe could lead to him being benched in favor of the speedy young Cuban.
Ramirez also will see some decent playing time as a centerfielder this year, mainly against lefties.
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