It was a win-win Tuesday for Chicago White Sox third baseman Joe Crede, who avoided salary arbitration and was given a $2-million US raise.
Crede, who will earn $4.94 million US in the 2007 Major League Baseball season, hit .283 last season with a career-best 30 home runs and 94 runs batted in.
White Sox third baseman Joe Crede, left, set career highs in home runs (30) and runs batted in (94) last season.
(Ed Zurga/Associated Press)
The 28-year-old also earned his first Silver Slugger Award and has 104 homers and 345 RBIs in 654 career MLB games.
Crede, a career .262 hitter, boasts a .970 fielding percentage over the last four years, second only to Oakland's Eric Chavez.
"We certainly have a track record of trying to lock up core guys prior to reaching free agency — the key thing being that we have Joe under control through the 2008 season, so it's not an immediate concern to address," assistant general manager Rick Hahn said.
"We had to, prior to today's deadline, get the one-year deal in place. And as for anything in the future, we'll consider exploring anything that makes sense for both sides."
Several other players avoided arbitration Tuesday:
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The Detroit Tigers agreed to one-year contracts with outfielder Craig Monroe, left-handed pitcher Nate Robertson, right-handed reliever Fernando Rodney and infielder Omar
Infante. -
The Colorado Rockies re-signed outfielder Matt Holliday to a $4.4 million,
one-year contract and pitcher Jeremy Affeldt to a one-year, $1.25-million pact. - Outfielder Milton Bradley, infielder Marco Scutaro and right-hander Kiko Calero are returning to the Oakland Athletics.
- The Texas Rangers struck one-year deals with relief pitcher Akinori Otsuka ($3 million), outfielder Brad Wilkerson ($4.35 million) and right-hander Rick Bauer ($730,000).
- Outfielder Kevin Mench agreed to a one-year contract with Milwaukee. The former Texas Ranger hit just .230 with a home run and 18 RBIs in his first season with the Brewers last season.
- The Pittsburgh Pirates re-signed pitcher Mike Gonzalez and outfielder/first baseman Xavier Nady to one-year contracts. Gonzalez posted a 3-4 record in 2006, converting all 24 of his save opportunities and posting a sterling 2.17 earned-run average in 54 games. Nady hit .300 with three home runs and 23 RBIs for Pittsburgh in 2006 after being acquired from the New York Mets.
- Infielder Ty Wigginton and pitcher Seth McClung agreed to one-year contracts with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
- Reliever Jose Valverde and the Arizona Diamondbacks struck a one-year deal worth $2 million.
- Outfielder Jason Michaels and the Cleveland Indians agreed to a two-year deal worth $4.25 million US. Michaels, who will earn $2 million this season, batted .267 last season with nine homers and 55 RBIs in 123 games.
- The Oakland Athletics inked left-handed pitcher Joe Kennedy for the 2007 season. Kennedy was 4-1 with a 2.31 earned-run average in 39 relief outings for the A's last season. He has a career 39-52 record with a 4.79 ERA in 183 major league games.
- Relief pitchers Scott Schoeneweis and Jorge Sosa signed three-year deals with the New York Mets. Schoeneweis, 33, inked a three-year deal, while Sosa signed on for one year. Schoeneweis went 4-2 with a 4.88 ERA and four saves in 71 games combined with Toronto and Cincinnati last season. Sosa went a combined 3-11 with a 5.42 ERA for the Atlanta Braves and Detroit Tigers.
