If the bearing has play in it you should definitely replace it, if it is the cause of the noise or not. I had that bearing go in my CR before, the lose fragments and balls took some gears with them! :(
That bearing is often reasonably lose in CRs anyway, heat around it and it might just pull out easily... Maybe use a pointed nose pliers to grap one of the balls? When putting the new bearing in, freeze it in the freezer and heat around where it will go, it should then just fall into place...