The Sox made official what everybody smelled coming like a cooked set of books from a corporate payroll scandal: Joe Crede and Juan Uribe are starters; Josh Fields and Jason Bourgeois will report to Triple-A Charlotte.

 

By paying veterans their "due" and refusing to acknowledge diminishing skill sets, the Sox have trapped themselves into a less-than-optimal team arrangement that offers little hope for improvement and even less excitement for fans. An unbiased look at the numbers would alter several decisions.

 

It's only fitting the White Sox play in Chicago, where political nepotism and smokey back room negotiations are as common and expected as post-winter potholes. I mean really, how different is any of this than what goes on with the Daleys or the Strogers?

 

Ken Williams still never explained why there wouldn't be enough playing time between third base and DH for both Crede and Fields. Crede and Jim Thome both need regular rest, both for injury and match up purposes.

 

But of course the organization still believes Jim Thome should play almost everyday against lefties, even after batting a meager .196 in 143 at bats off southpaws in '07.

 

And Juan Uribe is the man at second base, despite the fact the Sox could have been relieved of his entire $4.5 million salary late last week and watched Jason Bourgeois put up comparable stats at a fraction of the price until Danny Richar is healthy.

 

And Jermaine Dye is playing right field, despite strong evidence suggesting there are three outfielders on the roster that can play the position better defensively- Brian Anderson, Nick Swisher and Carlos Quentin.

 

The good news is the Sox will have one of the best defensive infields in all of baseball with Crede-Cabrera-Uribe-Konerko around the horn. And though many fans are quick to dismiss Crede at the plate, his last full season pre-injury resulted in a line of .283 30 HR 90 RBI.

 

In the best case scenario, Fields will improve his ability to hit a fastball and shaky defense at third down in Charlotte. But wasn't it just three days ago that Ozzie, faced with a question about demoting Alexei Ramirez, said he wanted to take the best team possible, "development" be damned?

 

Though he's had no luck with a trade yet, Ken Williams will do everything he can to alleviate the infield log jam that has Uribe, Bourgeois, Richar, Alexei Ramirez and Pablo Ozuna all competing for two spots.

 

There's no way the Sox can go far into the season with this kind of confusion and redundancy.