White Sox’s Crede has back surgery

Chicago White Sox third baseman Joe Crede is expected to be out at least three months after back surgery Tuesday.

Crede went on the 15-day disabled list because of lower back inflammation last Wednesday. He had a disk repair operation, known as a microdiscectomy, in Los Angeles.

“When you have surgery right now, it’s like nothing,” Manager Ozzie Guillen said. “You go through a couple months of rehab on your way back and sometimes you feel better. It’s a shame we had to wait this long to make that happen because if he did it when he was supposed to do it, then right now we’d have a different surgery.”

Crede, 29, has a history of back problems, and it has been a nagging issue all season. After deciding not to have off-season surgery to repair two herniated disks, he was hitting .216 with four home runs and 22 runs batted in.

Rookie Josh Fields has replaced Crede as the regular third baseman. He had three hits in his first 21 at-bats with the White Sox.

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Former major leaguer Harold Reynolds was hired as a broadcaster by MLB.com. Reynolds sued ESPN in October, contending he was wrongly fired after a female intern complained about what he called a “brief and innocuous” hug. He had been with the network since 1996 and had a six-year contract that his lawsuit said was worth about $1 million annually.

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Former All-Star closer Dan Kolb was added to the Pittsburgh Pirates’ roster. The right-handed Kolb was 2-1 with a 3.15 earned-run average and four saves in 18 games at Triple-A Indianapolis.... Reliever Jay Witasick, released by the Oakland Athletics last week, agreed to a one-year contract with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.