Alexei Ramirez & The Situation at Second Base

I spent a lot of time looking at depth charts on MLB.com today, coming across a very interesting point in the process. Shockingly, the White Sox depth chart has Alexei Ramirez starting at second base. I don't know if this is a typo or oversight, but it does raise an unavoidable question that has not been brought up a lot: can, will, and should Ramirez take over the starting spot as early as possible if he plays well (presumably in AAA) and Danny Richar stumbles out of the gate? Similarly, and this question has been thrown around more frequently, what happens if Juan Uribe and Richar put up identical numbers in Spring Training? I know KW has said that the starting bid will not be handed to Richar, but who is the better player and who gives us the best chance of winning? And regardless of who wins the Opening Day start, how large/long a window to they have to succeed? Uribe is defensively superior, but we haven't seen him handle second in years. And while he does provide more power at the plate, Richar clearly gives us a higher OBP guy (not great, but higher) with presumably better speed on the basepaths.

In this light, I'm tempted to think Richar fits our needs best, or at least better than does Uribe. We already have plenty of pop out of the right side of the plate, and we need guys to hit for average and take some pitches. Richar is still working on both, but he did walk once every 11.6 at-bats, versus Uribe's 1 per 15.1 at-bats (up from once every 35.6 at-bats in 2006!). Richar also struck out once every 5.7 at-bats, compared with Uribe's average of once every 4.6 plate appearances. The differences aren't glaring, but they are improvements--and let's remember that it was Richar's rookie year as opposed to Uribe's seventh season of regular duty.

But back to Ramirez. Let's say he immediately plays as well as advertised and earns the starting job outright by June 15 (I know the odds are between slim and none, but just give it some thought). What then? Richar and Uribe are now in the identical situation of being adept reserve middle infielders, and therefore, particularly with Ozuna in the mix, one of them becomes expendable. Richar is owed about $4 million less, is four years younger, and likely has a higher ceiling, so Uribe makes the most sense to put on the block. This is bolstered by the fact that Uribe is only signed through this year--since we clearly aren't going to receive a compensation pick should he walk next offseason, no sense in holding onto a redundant, non-contributing player.

Okay, let's keep this going. If we're still assuming Ramirez blows everyone's mind in our little hypothetical situation, how does this impact the shortstop position? Two scenarios make sense, each dependent on the team's success this year. First, we're done by July 15 (i.e. we're clearly not going to vie for a playoff spot, let alone a World Series ring). We can trade Orlando Cabrera to a contender before the July 31 deadline for prospects, as his contract expires after this year. This helps upgrade our embarrassment of a farm system and gives Alexei major league experience at his preferred position, which will help us greatly in 2009. Once we're out of the playoff hunt and 'win now' mindset, we're free to look towards next year--it's almost a rebuilding half-year, since KW would never concede a full season.

In the second scenario, we have a valid shot at playing in the postseason, even if it won't necessarily mean a ring. We hold onto Cabrera through the season and let him sign elsewhere in December (assuming he puts together a productive season). This would (hopefully) land us a supplemental first-round pick in the 2009 draft, which ultimately satisfies everyone: we played competitively in 2008, which is what Kenny wants, and still managed to partially improve our outlook of future success, which is what the fans want (remember the initial outrage over the Swisher deal). In 2009, Alexei shifts over to short, Danny jumps back in at second, and we hope for the best.

There are clearly two promising options should Ramirez perform exceedingly well, but that's just it--a guy who has never faced major league pitching has to play out of his mind in a very short amount of time. I'm not sure that anyone's learning and success curves are as steep as I'm hoping for, but I suppose stranger things have happened. Here's to praying for that long shot.