FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Minnesota Twins finally made a big move.

After sitting idle for more than four months following a season in which they lost to the White Sox in a one-game playoff for the AL Central title, the Twins agreed to terms with free-agent third baseman Joe Crede on a one-year deal on Saturday.

A source told ESPN that Crede's contract is worth $2.5 million and includes incentives that could raise the value of the deal to $7 million.

Provided Crede's back holds up, he will fill a major need for the Twins as a power-hitting third baseman who also has a great glove. The team scheduled a news conference for later Saturday.

Crede has had two major back surgeries in the last two seasons. He hit .248 with 17 homers and 55 RBIs last season for the White Sox. But the All-Star played sparingly in the second half because of recurring back trouble, which limited him to 47 games in 2007.

The Twins entered this spring having not made a single significant move to improve a team that lost to Crede's White Sox 1-0 in a one-game playoff for the division title.

General manager Bill Smith and assistant GM Rob Antony negotiated off and on with Crede's agent, Scott Boras, for more than two months without reaching a deal.

So when the Twins reported to Fort Myers this week, it appeared the team would stick to a plan of using Brendan Harris and Brian Buscher in a platoon at third base. Those two combined to hit .274 with 11 home runs and 96 RBIs last season, with Harris also getting time at shortstop and second base.

"Those guys work hard. They bust their tails," first baseman Justin Morneau said. "They both were down here early working. At the same time, if it's a move that can help our team and we can add a little more power in there and a guy who is a Gold Glover, our left side of the infield will be as good as there is."

With lefties Joe Mauer, Morneau and Jason Kubel in the middle of the lineup, the Twins have been desperate to find a righty with power to fit in between them, even moreso since Torii Hunter departed in free agency before last season.

They traded prized pitching prospect Matt Garza to Tampa Bay as part of a package for outfielder Delmon Young, who hit 10 homers in his first season in Minnesota.

Crede topped 20 homers in three straight years, including a career-high 30 in 2006, before back problems held him to 144 games total in the last two seasons.

"We've seen him do some damage over the years against us and hopefully that translates the same way when he's on our side," Morneau said.

He hit 16 home runs in the first half of last season and earned an All-Star bid, including batting .432 with seven homers and 17 RBIs in 10 games against Minnesota. But he managed just one homer after the break when his back injury flared up.

Crede worked out for scouts, including representatives from the Twins, earlier this winter in hopes of showing teams that his injury was healed and he was ready to play.

The San Francisco Giants also showed interest in the former Gold Glover, but as camps opened in Florida and Arizona this week, he was still without a job.

After hitting a wall in negotiations that led many to believe the Twins would stick with Harris and Buscher, the team ramped up talks again with Boras on Friday night. By Saturday, a deal had been reached.

Crede had spent his entire career with the White Sox organization, ever since he was a fifth-round pick in 1996. Now he's a member of Chicago's division rival.

"It's nice for him to play, obviously don't want to face him all the time," Sox ace Mark Buehrle said. "I think it's going to be tough playing 80 games on turf. I don't how that's going to hold up on his back. Obviously we'll see. Hopefully he's going to be healthy all year. Hopefully he doesn't help them out too much."

Crede was a key player when Chicago won the World Series in 2005, hitting four homers and driving in 11 in the postseason while playing his usual stellar defense.

It's was about damn time! If he can stay healthy (and that is a pretty big "if"), The Twins Should have a really nice lineup this season.


LINEUP:

1. Denard Span LF
2. Alexi Casilla 2B
3. Joe Mauer C
4. Justin Morneau 1B
5. Michael Cuddyer RF
6. Jason Kubel DH
7. Joe Crede 3B
8. Nick Punto SS
9. Carlos Gomez CF

BENCH:

Delmon Young OF
Brian Buscher IF
Brendan Harris IF
Matt Tolbert UTIL
Mike Redmond C

ROTATION:

Scott Baker RHP
Francisco Liriano LHP
Kevin Slowey RHP
Nick Blackburn RHP
Glen Perkins LHP

BULLPEN:
Joe Nathan RHP
Jesse Crain RHP
Matt Guerrier RHP
Boof Bonser RHP
Craig Breslow LHP
Jose MijaresLHP

Michael Cuddyer is an overrated piece of crap.

Cuddyer needs to stay healthy, and he needs to be productive. I still think that Delmon Young has all the potential in the world. People forget that he is only 23 years old. I think that he will eventually be the starting Left Fielder with Gomez shifting to right and Span to center. I think that the Twins might end up trading Cuddyer for some bullpen help. That is if all four outfielders stay healthy.

If the Dodgers end up getting Manny, would you say they have the best lineup in the NL? I say yes.

SS Furcal
2B Hudson
LF Ramirez
CF Kemp
RF Ethier
C Martin
1B Loney
3B Blake

Pretty good.

The Dodgers would be good, but probably not the best.

Mets lineup will include:

D. Wright
J. Reyes
C. Delgado
C. Beltran

The Phillies will have:

R. Howard
C. Utley
J. Rollins
R. Ibanez
J. Werth
S. Victorino


The Cubs will have:

A. Soriano
M. Bradley
D. Lee
A. Ramirez
G. Soto
K. Foukedome


All of these are at least as good if not better. And the Marlins actually have a really good offense too. If the Dodgers can get Manny, they will pretty darn good though.

It would probably look like...

Furcal
Hudson
Kemp/Ethier/Martin/Loney(whoever is hot)
Ramirez

qft

I think Delmon can be a force. I hope he will be. Gomez is fucking amazing. The guy gets some plate discipline and he'll be money.

Cuddyer can suck it. I hope they do get something for him, but he seems to be a valued clubhouse guy, so I'm not counting on that to happen.

On paper, i still like the Dodgers over any of those teams. A very dynamic lineup.

guys, the Red Sox are winning it all this year

dude, the Red Sox blow.

yeah, one game away from the world series on 07 with josh beckett, mike lowell, and david ortiz all injured pretty badly. we have the same team but they are all presumably more healthy and our pitching is a lot deeper. oh yeah, they sure blow.

my comment added nothing to this thread, just like yours did, we're even.

Relating to Baseball America's top 100 prospects list:

BY ORGANIZATION

7 - Athletics, Rangers
6 - Marlins
5 - Braves, Rays
4 - Orioles, White Sox, Indians, Brewers, Mets, Phillies, Giants, Mariners
3 - Red Sox, Rockies, Royals, Twins, Yankees, Pirates, Cardinals, Blue Jays
2 - Diamondbacks, Cubs, Reds, Angels, Dodgers
1 - Tigers, Astros, Padres, Nationals

BY ORIGINAL ORGANIZATION

8 - Braves
7 - White Sox
5 - Marlins, Brewers, Phillies, Mariners, Rays
4 - Mets, Yankees, Giants, Rangers
3 - Diamondbacks, Orioles, Red Sox, Rockies, Tigers, Dodgers, Twins, Cardinals, Blue Jays
2 - Cubs, Reds, Indians, Royals, Angels, Athletics, Pirates
1 - Astros, Padres, Nationals

The A's ones will come up to the big leagues, dominate for a year, then be released/traded to other teams.

:Moneyball:

The Marlins lookin good on that list as always.

The Marlins??

Cody Ross
Dallas McPherson
John Baker
Jeremy Hermida
Cameron Maybin
Gaby Sanchez

Real powerhouse.

Marlins 2008 Stats:
J. Cantu .277/29/95
H. Ramirez .301/33/67
D. Uggla .260/32/92
J.Hermida .249/17/61
C. Ross .260/22/73

That's not bad. If Mike Jacobs hadn't left, the Marlins would have had a really stacked lineup with a lot of power. That being said, they still will hit a lot of HR's and are sure to have a young player (or two) step up as well. Not to mention, Hanley Ramirez is one of the best hitters in all of MLB.

These numbers make me want to punch Mark Teixeria in the face that much more.