Danny Richar

[bigred3535]

Baseball Prospectus just released their new prospect rankings for second base and Danny Richar was the 7th ranked prospect:

 

7. Danny Richar, White Sox

Age: 24.1

Hitting: .285/.348/.479 at Triple-A (PCL, 66 G); .349/.404/.566 at Triple-A (International League, 31 G)

 

Richar put himself on the map when he transformed from organizational player into prospect with a 20-homer season in the Cal League in 2005, though his stock slipped a bit when he hit just eight in the following year at Double-A. He was nearly back to his ’05 pace with eight home runs in 66 games when he was shipped to the White Sox in a rare prospect-for-prospect deal in which Arizona acquired outfielder Aaron Cunningham. Richar does nearly everything well, he can hit for a little average, has some pop, draws a few walks and is an above-average runner while also playing solid defense. His greatest strength is a lack of significant weakness, making him highly similar to current second baseman Tadahito Iguchi, for whom he will likely take over from at second for the Sox next year.

 

 

I'm glad we have at least one position player in the upper minors to be kind of optimistic about. He's been tearing it up at AAA and could probably at least match Iguchi's production right now. I was against the Cunnigham trade at first but if Richar can hit .270/.340/.430 or higher in majors for us for a couple of years I'd say we'll have won it.

 

Also, in case anyone's wondering, Chris Carter was the 5th rated first baseman.

[fathom]

Baseball Prospectus just released their new prospect rankings for second base and Danny Richar was the 7th ranked prospect:

I'm glad we have at least one position player in the upper minors to be kind of optimistic about. He's been tearing it up at AAA and could probably at least match Iguchi's production right now. I was against the Cunnigham trade at first but if Richar can hit .270/.340/.430 or higher in majors for us for a couple of years I'd say we'll have won it.

 

Also, in case anyone's wondering, Chris Carter was the 5th rated first baseman.

 

Are you sure it wasn't the Chris Carter in the Dbacks system?

[briguy27]

Richar

[bigred3535]

Are you sure it wasn't the Chris Carter in the Dbacks system?

 

Yes

 

5. Chris Carter, White Sox

Age: 20.6

Hitting: .285/.374/.536 at Low-A (94 G)

 

A 15th-round pick in 2005 out of a Las Vegas high school, Carter won the Pioneer League home run title last year, and has built on it by leading the South Atlantic League with 20 home runs going into the weekend. Carter is similar to Kaaihue in the sense that he’s loaded with power and has good plate discipline, but his all-or-nothing approach to hitting will always limit his batting average. The White Sox are suddenly desperate for many things, but a power-hitting first baseman is not one of them, and they’ll take it slow with Carter.

[BaseballNick]

I'm excited to see what the kid can do up here. He seems like he's developing into a very solid top-of-the-order bat. He's hitting for extra bases and from what I hear he's got some speed. I'm a little surprised about the scouting report mentioning Richar's greatest strength is his lack of a significant weakness because I've read a couple reports about his sub-par defense right after he was traded to the Sox. I wonder if he's improved with the glove or if maybe those reports were stretching to find a weakness.

[OilCan]

Think we should *bump* this since Richar is coming to the big leagues tomorrow.

[BearSox]

I had no idea his name was pronouned "ri-shar"... I thought it was like how it was spelt, "rich-ar"

 

[RibbieRubarb]

Lets give him a good Hockey-esque pronounciation.

den-NEE REE-shar!

 

[That funky motion]

Has he been called up yet? I don't see it anywhere.

[Kalapse]

Has he been called up yet? I don't see it anywhere.

According to Williams he should be in the lineup tonight.

[That funky motion]

According to Williams he should be in the lineup tonight.

Thanks. Did they say where he would be batting in the line up?

[Kalapse]

Thanks. Did they say where he would be batting in the line up?

No but I'd imagine near the bottom, probably 8th.

[Steve9347]

I guarantee Richar is less than impressive. Has he even been called up yet?

 

EDIT: NM, it pays to read the entire thread.

 

 

Anyone know anything about his fielding skill set?

Edited July 28, 2007 by Steve9347

[kwolf68]

I guarantee Richar is less than impressive. Has he even been called up yet?

 

EDIT: NM, it pays to read the entire thread.

Anyone know anything about his fielding skill set?

 

 

How can you gurantee this?

Edited July 28, 2007 by kwolf68

[Steve9347]

How can you gurantee this?

what did we trade for him?

 

the whole board is excited over a guy we got for crap... there has to be a reason arizona basically gave him away.

 

on a side note... is it

 

 

ree-kar

 

or

 

ree-shar?

[Heads22]

I guarantee Richar is less than impressive. Has he even been called up yet?

 

EDIT: NM, it pays to read the entire thread.

Anyone know anything about his fielding skill set?

 

Has talent but is prone to dumb errors.

[JDsDirtySox]

what did we trade for him?

 

the whole board is excited over a guy we got for crap... there has to be a reason arizona basically gave him away.

 

I don't consider Aaron Cunningham crap.

[elrockinMT]

When the Sox picked up Richar it was to fill the need for an infielder to develop in the system. The Sox gave up a developing OF prospect. I think most observers knew what the plan was when he was acquired from the DBacks. Hopefully he can contribute at the major league level, but it remains to be seen. It's sad that this is seen as some season saving move though.

[TLAK]

what did we trade for him?

 

the whole board is excited over a guy we got for crap... there has to be a reason arizona basically gave him away.

 

on a side note... is it

ree-kar

 

or

 

ree-shar?

This is the press release.

White Sox acquire infielder Richar from Arizona for outfielder Cunningham

06/16/2007 4:05 PM ET

 

CHICAGO -- The Chicago White Sox have acquired infielder Danny Richar from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for outfielder Aaron Cunningham. Richar will be optioned to Class AAA Charlotte. Richar, 24, hit .285 (76-267) with 20 doubles, four triples, eight home runs, 46 RBI and 40 runs scored in 66 games with Class AAA Tucson in 2007. He appeared in 50 games at second base and 16 at shortstop.

 

The 6-foot-0, 170-pounder ranked second last season in the Southern League in runs scored (79), fourth in hits (140) and tied for fourth in average (.292) and was named to the league's mid-and-postseason All-Star Teams. Richar owns a .281 (678-2,410) average over six minor-league seasons in the Diamondbacks organization.

 

Cunningham, 21, batted .294 (74-252) with 12 doubles, five triples, eight home runs and 37 RBI in 67 games with Class A Winston-Salem in 2007. and was named to the league's mid-and-postseason All-Star Teams.

I never saw him play but IIRC Cunningham was highly thought of by the FutureSox crew. So it's not like the Sox traded some bum to get Richar.

[Steve9347]

When the Sox picked up Richar it was to fill the need for an infielder to develop in the system. The Sox gave up a developing OF prospect. I think most observers knew what the plan was when he was acquired from the DBacks. Hopefully he can contribute at the major league level, but it remains to be seen. It's sad that this is seen as some season saving move though.

exactly. if he hits .250 I'll be impressed.

 

I'm not trying to be a downer, I'm just being realistic. The whole board is excited over this guy, and I just don't have the confidence in our scouts nor in the assumed idiocy of the diamondback's scouts.

 

we've had incredibly hyped guys come up and stink (Anderson, Sweeney) and they are still trying to sell us on the man with no stick Jerry Owens... just don't be surprised when he hits .230 from here on out and then we trade him for a fireballing, failed bullpen arm.

 

heh.

 

EDIT: I'll be incredibly happy if I'm eating crow at season's end and Richar has hit .260-.280 and shown good potential in all stat categories.

Edited July 28, 2007 by Steve9347

[TLAK]

Has talent but is prone to dumb errors.

Thats what they need to find out about him. A kid with his track record will hit, if not now then later. But how he handles balls in key situations with the bright lights on will determine if the Sox can use him.

[Balta1701]

EDIT: I'll be incredibly happy if I'm eating crow at season's end and Richar has hit .260-.280 and shown good potential in all stat categories.

Honestly, I really like what the kid brings to the table, but I'm also convinced he's going to wind up struggling here for the first couple months.

 

The kid is the classic example of what you call "Raw talent" and he has been that way at every single level. He had barely played BBall when the DBacks originally first signed him, and he hung around their lower levels for several years while learning the game. He's taken some time to adapt to each level he's gone to as well.

 

He was tearing the cover off the ball in Charlotte, so he deserves to be up since there's just no more he can learn at AAA and he definately has the talent to be an above average major league player, but I think he's going to struggle a bit just because he is still so raw.

[kwolf68]

 

Even though I like Richar, I was not happy with this deal. I thought Cunningham could develop and was becomming a pretty nice prospect for the Sox. I also like Chris Getz and I don't see why Richar is so so much better than he is, although they are at different stages.

 

I felt like we really needed to find a SS, because we have jackcrap there...Lopez and Valido don't appear to be prospects anymore...one of the reasons I really liked talking to the Dodgers (about Hu).

[Jeremy]

I never saw him play but IIRC Cunningham was highly thought of by the FutureSox crew. So it's not like the Sox traded some bum to get Richar.

 

Cunningham might've been our best position player prospect (and he's hitting even better with AZ), so yeah, we hardly gave up crap to get Richar.

Edited July 28, 2007 by Jeremy

[Jeremy]

Even though I like Richar, I was not happy with this deal. I thought Cunningham could develop and was becomming a pretty nice prospect for the Sox. I also like Chris Getz and I don't see why Richar is so so much better than he is, although they are at different stages.

 

I felt like we really needed to find a SS, because we have jackcrap there...Lopez and Valido don't appear to be prospects anymore...one of the reasons I really liked talking to the Dodgers (about Hu).

 

I didn't love it myself though I'm relieved that we're not opening another huge hole with Tad's departure this way. I agree that the organization seems to criminally underrate Getz. I'm just waiting for Kenny to trade him to a smarter GM for a bag of balls.