While the White Sox were going 7-3 on their just concluded 10 game road trip to Seattle, Anaheim & San Francisco, second baseman Juan Uribe was not available for the last 3 games of the trip due to a hamstring injury. Listening to Sox beat writer Joe Cowley on the 670 "The SCORE" White Sox pregame yesterday, there's a possibility Uribe could be headed for the disabled list. Alexei Ramirez started the last 3 games at second, and probably will continue to start there if Uribe continues to remain unavailable when the Sox start a 6 game homestand tomorrow vs. the Indians at U.S. Cellular Field. At the same time, Danny Richar appears to be closing in on a rehab assignment with Triple "A" Charlotte in the next couple of weeks as he continues to recover from a stress fracture in his rib cage. I have a gut feeling that Richar will be back on the big club before Jerry Owens, and that #1 will eventually take over the everyday job from both Uribe & Ramirez at second base regardless of whether the Sox remain in first in the A.L. Central.

Fine. No big deal.

Richar and Ramirez can bat .210 just as easily as Uribe. Ramirez has surprising gap power and can knock one out of the park every so often like Uribe.

Ramirez has better range than Uribe. Their arms are equal.

I don't know if Ramirez has the sure hands of a Uribe. Haven't seen enough of him. He does look pretty smooth turning the double play.

Richar will get some playing time if Uribe is out. I'll bet Ramirez gets the bulk of it.

What has Danny Richar proven to make you think he'll be anything other than another option?

The White Sox don't have a clear cut answer at 2B - Uribe usually plays good defense, and he's the veteran option for Guillen to fall back onto. Ozuna is a spark plug option, and Richar/Ramirez young players with a chance to get better.

I would actually prefer Ramirez to get more time in the minors if they aren't going to play him much at the major league level. For whatever reason, they don't seem interested in doing that.

Nothing. I said Richar/Ramirez can hit .210 just like Uribe can. So it's not a loss for the Sox. That's all.

I was really asking Shark about this....I think we're in agreement.

Richar did not have much of a ST and has now missed the first two months of the regular season. He is going to have an extended rehab. Uribe will be back before Richar is ready to go.

From the little I saw of Danny Richar last season, his average like every other White Sox player wasn't that great, but he reminded me a little bit of a poor man's Luis Castillo, in his batting stance. He also appeared to be the best option at second base before visa issues & a stress fracture in his rib cage cut his Spring Training short. I'm sticking by my prediction that Danny will be called up before Jerry Owens from Triple "A" Charlotte, but a possible storyline tonight involves Juan Uribe and the disabled list if his hamstring keeps him out of the lineup vs. the Indians at U.S. Cellular Field. I expect another start for Alexei Ramirez if Uribe's out again. Finally, why haven't we seen more of Pablo Ozuna this season? I know he was hurt most of last season, but has #38 been literally stuck to the Sox bench or what?

#38 has not been getting anything done when his number is called upon.

Richar is still on the DL and I would bet that Owens comes up first because if anybody on the Sox now that is not a pitcher hits the DL, I think they will bring up Owens simply to get more speed on the team. IF the Hamstring of Uribe is fine or not, I'd still rather see Alexi out at second base for the time being.

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Ozzie Guillen mentioned something tonight on his pregame radio show with Ed Farmer before the White Sox/Indians' game that Danny Richar is close to starting a rehab assignment with Triple "A" Charlotte. As for Juan Uribe & his hamstring, #5 could be out another 4-5 games, but they won't put him on the Disabled List...yet. As for Alexei Ramirez, he had 2 more hits tonight, and is playing solid at second base since Uribe left the Anaheim game last Thursday. Even when Uribe and his hammy are healthy again, I think the second base job will be between #10 and Richar with Uribe the odd man out.

They may both hit .210, but Juan's defense will be missed. We've seen it at times when Alexei starts.

Outside of his occasional mental holiday, Uribe has AMAZING range at 2B and SS.

Not trying to be a Uribe apologist, as I'd like to upgrade the position, but Richar is not an upgrade, nor is he a comparable replacement.

I'm sick of the Juan Uribe movie with the White Sox. You can talk all you want about Uribe's defense and the fact he started 74 games at second base in 2004 for the Sox before shifting to shortstop for the 2005 World Series title team and back to second this season. Even when Uribe recovers from his hamstring injury, I think he'll be the odd man out and I still maintain Danny Richar, when fully healthy from his rib cage injury, and Alexei Ramirez will battle for the second base job whether the Sox are still in first place or not. Then again, the Sun-Times has a new name to consider. With Joe Crede likely on his way out of Chicago, in part because Jerry Reinsdorf won't do business with agent Scott Boras, how does the name Chone Figgins from the Anaheim (NOT LOS ANGELES) Angels look to you? Figgins is currently on the Angels' 15 Day DL with a hammy of his own, and there's already talk that Anaheim will make a strong push towards Crede when he becomes a free agent. Like Alexei, Chone can play multiple positions...