Best Lineup 1-9?

[LnGrrrR]

Just wondering what you guys think. For the AL, I gotta go with Red Sox, though Yankees are still right up there.

1-9 (best guess) for the Sox

1. Ellsbury
2. Crawford
3. Pedroia
4. Gonzalez
5. Youkilis
6. Ortiz
7. Drew
8. Scutaro
9. Saltalamacchia

8 and 9 are the only weak spots. (Except for Ortiz who will probably start off slow again.) Compared to the Yankees (best guess) lineup...

1. Cano
2. Granderson
3. Texiera
4. A-Rod
5. Posada
6. Jeter
7. Thames
8. Swisher
9. Gardner

I think the Sox have a better 1-7, overall. Good speed and good on-base percentages.

[JayTheClown]

Dude this a stupid ass thread. Its Boston and you know its fucking Boston. I hate every thing about Boston (except Styles P). Even I would admit your going to the World Series IF you stay healthy.

[monosylab1k]

I used to always have a soft spot in my heart for the Red Sox, up until they became the mini Yankees. Now they can eat shit too.

[LnGrrrR]

Dude this a stupid ass thread. Its Boston and you know its fucking Boston. I hate every thing about Boston (except Styles P). Even I would admit your going to the World Series IF you stay healthy.

Eh, you never know. Weirder things have happened. And yes mono, we are mini-Yankees now. I think a good amount of people who liked the Red Sox pre-2004 have switched over to the Cubs bandwagon. Lord knows they could use all the good karma.

[crc21209]

Eh, you never know. Weirder things have happened. And yes mono, we are mini-Yankees now. I think a good amount of people who liked the Red Sox pre-2004 have switched over to the Cubs bandwagon. Lord knows they could use all the good karma.

I'm a Sox fan and always will be. :tu I just re-watched the 04' Sox DVD's I have and it's crazy how clutch Papi was in the ALCS and Damon was in Game 7...

[monosylab1k]

Eh, you never know. Weirder things have happened. And yes mono, we are mini-Yankees now. I think a good amount of people who liked the Red Sox pre-2004 have switched over to the Cubs bandwagon. Lord knows they could use all the good karma.

tbh I loved watching their 2004 run. I don't know that they fully embraced their mini Yankee status until a couple years later.

[LnGrrrR]

I'm a Sox fan and always will be. :tu I just re-watched the 04' Sox DVD's I have and it's crazy how clutch Papi was in the ALCS and Damon was in Game 7...

I was going through Airman Leadership School at the time with a fellow airman named Brave. I was despondent, and he assured me we'd win the series when we were down 0-3. I remember staying up til 2 in the morning Game 4, and then 4 in the morning Game 5. That will forever be the best comeback by any team.

[JamStone]

I think Boston might end up arranging the order as follows:

1. Crawford
2. Pedroia
3. Gonzalez
4. Youk
5. Ortiz
6. Drew
7. Saltalamacchia
8. Scutaro
9. Ellsbury

Creates a slightly better lefty-righty balance throughout the line-up. And Ellsbury-Crawford will still bat back-to-back, just 9-1 instead of 1-2 to keep that speed together. It's certainly improved over last year, but I think it's important to note that just as important as adding Crawford and Gonzalez will be having Youkilis and Pedroia and to a lesser extent Ellsbury healthy all year. Gonzalez and Crawford only slightly upgrade what Martinez and Beltre did last season (plus adding speed), but having Youk and Pedroia healthy and productive on top of that is scary. I do think it will still be very important for Ortiz to be serviceable at DH. His production being somewhat steady really could be the x-factor as I can see the bottom 4 of my proposed line-up being inconsistent or even struggle at times.

For the Yankees, I don't think you'd ever see them hit Cano lead-off. He doesn't have base-stealing speed and his bat is far more valuable around the heart of the line-up in the 3-4-5 spots. I do think he might be better served moving up to the 3-hole. It's somewhat of a traditional baseball philosophy that your best hitter (not necessarily best run producer) should hit third. Same reason why I would hit Adrian Gonzalez third in the Red Sox line-up. Cano has become the Yankees best hitter. I think it's time to switch Cano with Teixeira.

1. Granderson
2. Jeter
3. Cano
4. A-Rod
5. Tex
6. Posada
7. Swisher
8. Russell Martin
9. Gardner

The success of the Yankees offense next season depends greatly on two guys, Granderson and Jeter. If Granderson once again struggles to find consistency, you might see Jeter move back up to leadoff or even playing musical spots with Granderson and Gardner. But if Granderson really has figured out some of his mechanical problems and can be even a .290-.300 hitter with a consistent OBP around .350, that might be enough. Jeter needs to reclaim his 2009 swing and if he does that, it changes everything for Cano, A-Rod, and Teixeira. Pitchers have to pitch to those three differently with Granderson and/or Jeter on base a lot. And if that happens, I think the Yankees line-up isn't very far behind the Red Sox at all. Red Sox probably still better, but not as by a very big margin at all.

[LnGrrrR]

I think Boston might end up arranging the order as follows:

1. Crawford
2. Pedroia
3. Gonzalez
4. Youk
5. Ortiz
6. Drew
7. Saltalamacchia
8. Scutaro
9. Ellsbury

Creates a slightly better lefty-righty balance throughout the line-up. And Ellsbury-Crawford will still bat back-to-back, just 9-1 instead of 1-2 to keep that speed together. It's certainly improved over last year, but I think it's important to note that just as important as adding Crawford and Gonzalez will be having Youkilis and Pedroia and to a lesser extent Ellsbury healthy all year. Gonzalez and Crawford only slightly upgrade what Martinez and Beltre did last season (plus adding speed), but having Youk and Pedroia healthy and productive on top of that is scary. I do think it will still be very important for Ortiz to be serviceable at DH. His production being somewhat steady really could be the x-factor as I can see the bottom 4 of my proposed line-up being inconsistent or even struggle at times.

For the Yankees, I don't think you'd ever see them hit Cano lead-off. He doesn't have base-stealing speed and his bat is far more valuable around the heart of the line-up in the 3-4-5 spots. I do think he might be better served moving up to the 3-hole. It's somewhat of a traditional baseball philosophy that your best hitter (not necessarily best run producer) should hit third. Same reason why I would hit Adrian Gonzalez third in the Red Sox line-up. Cano has become the Yankees best hitter. I think it's time to switch Cano with Teixeira.

1. Granderson
2. Jeter
3. Cano
4. A-Rod
5. Tex
6. Posada
7. Swisher
8. Russell Martin
9. Gardner

The success of the Yankees offense next season depends greatly on two guys, Granderson and Jeter. If Granderson once again struggles to find consistency, you might see Jeter move back up to leadoff or even playing musical spots with Granderson and Gardner. But if Granderson really has figured out some of his mechanical problems and can be even a .290-.300 hitter with a consistent OBP around .350, that might be enough. Jeter needs to reclaim his 2009 swing and if he does that, it changes everything for Cano, A-Rod, and Teixeira. Pitchers have to pitch to those three differently with Granderson and/or Jeter on base a lot. And if that happens, I think the Yankees line-up isn't very far behind the Red Sox at all. Red Sox probably still better, but not as by a very big margin at all.

Agreed on the Yankees being close. I like the Red Sox's speed more than the Yankees though; Jeter is slowing down. We'll see if last year was a sign of aging or a fluke year.

I like your Sox lineup, I'd just be surprised if they put Ellsbury at 9. But that's seemingly the only way to go with a more "normal" lineup where you get your best hitters at 3/4/5.

[TheMACHINE]

Angles of course

1. Aybar
2. Abreu
3. Hunter
4. Morales
5. Kendrick
6. Rivera
7. Conger
8. Callaspo
9. Bourjos

:rolleyes

[Pelicans78]

I'm going with the Royals.

CF Lorenzo Cain
3B Mike Aviles
DH Billy Butler
1B Kila Kaahiue
RF Jeff Francouer
LF Alex Gordon
C Brayan Pena
2B Chris Getz
SS Alcides Escobar

[Marklar MM]

Tigers bitches. Brandon Inge will tear it up and hit .255 this year.

[JamStone]

Yankees, but I don't think A-Rod deserves the cleanup hitter spot anymore...

A-Rod had a pretty bad year by his standards and still had 30 HR and 125 RBI. He might not be the all around hitter he used to be, but he's still a legitimate run-producing, clean-up hitter. You could put Teixeira at clean-up but it's not much of a difference. And Cano doesn't strike me as a natural clean-up hitter. More of a 3-hole hitter. Teixeira and A-Rod have similar power. A-Rod even had more RBIs than either Tex or Cano despite having over 100 fewer plate appearances than both. A-Rod is still probably the Yankees' best option at clean-up.

[v2freak]

Scutaro isn't a weak spot, but #9Salty is a bit of an unknown. Will Varitek platoon with him?

[LnGrrrR]

Scutaro isn't a weak spot, but #9Salty is a bit of an unknown. Will Varitek platoon with him?

Yeah, Tek is taking on the "mentor" role... I assume Salt will start 2/3 to 3/4 of the games.

[UnWantedTheory]

Houston Astros. :lol

[TheMACHINE]

Woopty woo.


1. Aybar (SS)
2. Abreu (DH)
3. Hunter (RF)
4. Morales (1B)
5. Wells (LF)
6. Kendrick (2B)
7. Conger (C)
8. Callaspo (3B)
9. Bourjos (CF)

:rolleyes