A Saber-Slanted Baseball Community

"He didn’t win a Gold Glove. He didn’t win a Fielding Bible Award. But Pablo Sandoval may be the best defensive third baseman in the National League, if not the majors." I am not familiar with the significance of the stats [rPM (runs plus minus saved), DRS (defensive runs saved), and RZR (revised zone rating)] used here. But at least there is evidence that Pablo is among the best defensive third basemen in baseball.

Joe Crede was a fan favorite among White Sox fans for 6 1/2 seasons. Now he will be playing for one of the Sox's biggest enemies. Crede, 30, agreed to terms Friday night with the Minnesota Twins, according to a major-league source. edit by larry 2/21 at 11:15am: The Twins will sign Crede to one-year deal with a base salary of $2.5 million with the chance to earn $7 million in appearance bonuses. The bonuses begin once Crede reaches 250 plate appearances and tops out at $7 million when he makes his 525th plate appearance. Star Trib

[Alexei] Ramirez has taken Viciedo under his wing in the Miami area by working out with him and showing him how to acclimate to a new country and language in the manner similar to that of Sox pitcher and fellow Cuban Jose Contreras. According to those who have seen him lately, the forecast is encouraging. "He's very good," Ramirez said. "He's very strong." [...] "He has more hitting ability than Alexei," the AL scout said. "But he has to make adjustments. I see some ways to get him out. Alexei is a great athlete who is very smart and can adjust. The Sox were right on with Alexei, but I want to see if Viciedo can do more than hit over an extended period."

Camp Cora has been up and running throughout the winter, and the early progress reports have Josh Fields emerging as a leading candidate to "shock" the organization when he reports to spring camp in just over three weeks. The third baseman was criticized by Ozzie Guillen last season for what the White Sox manager felt were diminishing skills as the year went on, so after a clean-up surgery on his knee in the fall, Fields opted to make a trip to Florida recently and work with Guillen and bench coach Joey Cora in preparation for taking over for free agent Joe Crede. His goal? To make sure Guillen can’t criticize him — specifically his defense — any longer. "I talked to Joey [on Monday] and he said [Fields is] moving better by far than he’s ever moved," hitting coach Greg Walker said. "[Cora] said we’ll be shocked.