Love for Crede

Joe Crede's return to Chicago's south side as a member of the Minnesota Twins is a memorable one. In a hilarious moment, Crede walked to the plate with "All Out of Love" spilling out of the U.S. Cellular Field PA system and the White Sox faithful greeting him with a standing ovation. Crede smiled at the plate and then silenced the crowd with a home run to left field off of Jose Contreras. The Twins rolled the White Sox, 12-5.

Fantasy Impact: Crede may never get back to the level of his 30-homer 2006 season, but he's certainly a threat to post 20 homers and knock in 90 runs in a good Twins lineup. Crede's off to a .188 start through four games, and he's only a .257 lifetime hitter. Consider him a sleeper in 2009 who is capable of finishing the year in the top 10 of all third basemen.

Mauer takes BP

MLB.com reports that Joe Mauer is back to playing some baseball. He's catching bullpen sessions and finally took batting practice for the first time since September. His bad back still does not allow him to run.

Mauer told the newspaper that he still hasn't gotten to the point of running, meaning there remains no timetable for his possible return to the team. While there is nothing specific in terms of him coming back, the club believes their catcher will be back by the end of April.

The only time that Mauer has experienced pain in his inflamed right sacroiliac joint -- where the base of the spine meets the pelvis -- is when he tried to run earlier this spring. The club has said that they are going to wait until all of the inflammation is out of the joint before Mauer attempts to run again.

Fantasy Impact: Is this good news? Anything positive on Mauer is a plus for owners who drafted the batting-title challenger high this year. Mauer is still a ways away from the Majors, however, and a lack of timetable makes us believe he'll miss at least all of April.

The good news is backup Mike Redmond should be able to return as Twins catcher as early as Thursday. His groin pull will not require DL time. Those who picked up Redmond as a replacement backstop should get him back in the lineup.

Can't catch a break

Update - 1:20 p.m. 4/8/09: Redmond might be headed for the DL. His status will be updated sometime today.

4/7/09: As expected, Twins backup catcher Mike Redmond missed Tuesday night's game with a pulled groin. Third stringer Jose Morales started in a 6-5 come-from-behind walk-off Twins win. Morales struck out in all three of his at bats.

Fantasy Impact: Redmond and Morales are fairly productive for catchers. Redmond owns a career .292 average while Morales hit over .300 his last two seasons in Triple-A. Neither of them, however, has been tested on a full-time basis at the MLB level. Avoid Minnesota catchers until Mauer can return. His unknown status leaves us to believe it will be a while.

Twins waiting to know more on Mauer

Joe Mauer's back problem is not getting resolved, and it has the Twins making other plans for their April 6 opener.

peaking through a team spokesman, Minnesota general manager Bill Smith said Sunday that he's received no update from the doctors on Mauer.

Mauer was scheduled to return to Fort Myers, Fla., on Saturday night after seeing a specialist in Baltimore for a second opinion on his lower back. But there has been no indication as to when the Twins will get an update on the results of the exam.

Mauer was diagnosed with inflammation in the right sacroiliac joint -- where the base of the spine meets the top of the pelvis -- by team doctors following a magnetic resonance arthrogram this week. He's been unable to take part in any team workouts so far this spring due to pain in his lower back, which he first began experiencing late last season.

An MRI on Mauer's back over the offseason revealed a kidney obstruction, and he underwent surgery to eliminate the problem on Dec. 22. The hope was that it would help relieve the back pain, but that has not been the case.

The Twins' season opener is April 6 against the Mariners, and while the club has yet to declare that Mauer will miss the start of the regular season, his availability is clearly in doubt.

"The more days go by, it looks like we are going to have to ad-lib at the beginning," Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said Sunday. "But we are waiting on the latest news on Joe to see where we're at."

Mauer's fantasy draft stock should be sliding at this point. Weird that the Twins don't know anything by now.

Requesting the Cubs

An interesting article at MinnPost.com explains how baseball scheduling is done today. I had no idea that teams make special solicitations as specific as requesting the Cubs for a home series.

It's far too late to make any radical changes to the 2009 Major League Baseball schedule. So Twins President Dave St. Peter offered two special requests to pass along to the firm that produces the 2010 sked: No road trips longer than nine games, and one interleague visit by the Cubs. "Because they do draw fans," St. Peter said.

Stunning, really. The article goes on to explain that most requests are more substantial, such as the Rockies needing to be out of Denver during last year's Democratic National Convention. Makes sense.

Boof goes poof

Scratch Boof Bonser's name from the starting lineup, and perhaps even from the Twins' setup role this season. He's undergoing shoulder surgery and could be out months.

The decision to have surgery comes after Bonser had two MRI exams and a cortisone shot since the end of last season. The exams showed no structural damage, and the cortisone shot, given a few days before Bonser reported to camp, yielded minimal results.

The surgery will be performed by Tampa Bay Rays team physician Dr. Koco Eaton in St. Petersburg.

"They're going to go in and clean up," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "They know that there's a little small spur that's part of the problem. ... There's no timetable right now because first you have to see exactly what happens in the surgery and what else they find. They'll check everything out as they go through it, in a scope fashion."

Bonser's already damaged fantasy value just hit the floor. What happened to this high-end prospect?

Twins ink Crede

Joe Crede agreed with the Minnesota Twins to a 1-year incentive-laden contract. He's likely to be the Twins regular third baseman this year.

The Twins will sign Crede to one-year deal with a base salary of $2.5 million with the chance to earn as much as $7 million with appearance bonuses. The bonuses begin once Crede reaches 250 plate appearances and tops out at $7 million when he makes his 525th plate appearance.

Crede, while traveling to Fort Myers, has run into weather problems - in Minnesota. The Twins had scheduled a 3 p.m. press conference but that now has been pushed back until they learn when Crede will arrive in town.

Joe C. is the man! He’s producing all the way from the Twin Cities!

This a is very, very good deal for the Twins. A $7 million base salary seemed too high. A $5 million base seemed reasonable. But a $2.5 million base really helps the Twins out from a risk standpoint. If Crede is healthy, he should play like a $7 million player. If he breaks down, the Twins have a good Plan B in Brian Busher and Bredan Harris. And there’s money available to add move talent - perhaps a free agent reliever like Juan Cruz.

This also means the Twins will have to make another 40-man roster move to clear space for Crede. Update: To make room for Crede, the Twins have placed injured righthander Pat Neshek on the 60-day disabled list. Neshek will miss the entire 2009 season because of Tommy John surgery.

Agreed that Crede will be a great addition in Minneapolis. If his back is OK, he can field with the best of them, and he offers another bat that Minnesota craves. Solid pickup. What the White Sox cast off could end up hurting them in their own division.