The Injured Corner

Both Chicago baseball teams are dealing without their third basemen right now. Aramis Ramirez and Joe Crede are on the disabled list, but one will be there a lot longer.

Aramis Ramirez was placed on the DL yesterday with left patellar tendinitis. It was originally thought that Ramirez would miss a few days, but the injury is proving to be worse than the Cubs thought.

Ramirez's left patellar tendinitis may prevent him from being able to accelerate for quite some time after he returns. Ramirez suffered the injury after jogging out of the box on June 6 in Milwaukee and then running hard after shortstop J.J. Hardy bobbled his grounder. He landed hard on first base while trying to beat the throw.

"We're going to miss Ramirez's bat, no doubt about it," manager Lou Piniella said. "But we're fortunate that Mark [DeRosa] can move over there and hold that position until Ramirez is ready."

Ramirez should be back for the Cubs/White Sox series on June 22nd, but he won't have Joe Crede to kick around when he does come back.

That's because Joe Crede has finally decided to have surgery on his back, and he's going to be out at least two months.

White Sox third baseman Joe Crede will undergo surgery on his lower back Tuesday, but the length of rehabilitation won't be known until after the extent of damage is determined.

Renowned back specialist Robert Watkins will perform the operation in Southern California.

The Sox wouldn't reveal the type of surgery, but Crede spoke last week of a procedure in which fluid that is irritating the sciatic nerves would be drained. He said that it would take at least two months to recover.

That means that we're all going to get to watch Josh Fields and his .143 batting average for at least two more months.

It's also possible that Crede may miss the rest of the season, depending on how his back is in two months. It may take him a lot longer to rehab it, because when it comes to back surgeries, there's really no way to know.

So what that means is it's entirely possible we've all seen Joey Clutch play his last game as a White Sox. With next season being his free agent year, if Josh Fields can prove that he can play over the next few months, the Sox may deal Crede in the offseason.

I'm not sure what they'll get for him considering he's just off of back surgery, but it's possible.

Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go cry.