Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times has received conflicting reports from Joe Crede and the White Sox. It seems that Sox GM Kenny Williams claims multiyear overtures were made to Scott Boras regarding Crede, while the player says nothing was ever offered.
Additionally, Crede implied that he never spoke to Aaron Rowand about being traded to the Giants. I find this a little hard to believe; it would be kind of weird for the topic not to come up. Crede’s mindset right now is that he’s a member of the White Sox, though a trade before Opening Day seems inevitable.
Crede will earn $5.1MM in ’08. He won’t find much competition among free agent third basemen next year – Casey Blake, Nomar Garciaparra, and Wes Helms comprise the others.