Just occupying my baseball thoughts with something. What you all think the standard lineup in theory should be? I think it should go like this:
1 Arraez - lefty
2 Adames - righty
3 Devers - lefty
4 Chapman - righty
Ideally, Arraez hopefully should get on base more often than not. Then you have 3 guys who could drive him (and themselves) in with one swing of the bat. Or just get multiple guys on base with less than two outs.
5 Bader - I am concentrating on hitting, outside of his D. He did hit 17 homers last year but that was in Philly and Minny. I assume Oracle significantly drops that number. I mean if he comes close to that at Oracle (13-15) I'll be thrilled. But I am more interested in his .287 last year. So I am hopping for him to get on base in front of
6 Eldridge
7 Ramos
Same scenario as at the top of the lineup.
8 Bailey
9 Lee - Why I want him in the 9th spot is in front of Arraez who can again get himself on base and move Lee along in front of the heavy hitters.
Bader at 5 and Lee at 9 could be interchangeable Otherwise I think is not a bad blueprint.
Of course, spring training and exhibition games could alter that.
The infield bench comes to 2 out of 3 between Schmitt, Fitz and Koss, with Schmitt as initially favorite for one of them.
The outfield is more crowded. I think Brennan takes one spot unless he has absolutely terrible spring or Gilbert / McCray / Matos totally outplay him. I don't believe they would have signed him if they didn't consider him an upgrade to those guys. Gilbert has an upper hand for the 2nd outfield spot, having ability to back up all 3 OF positions and late defensive replacement for Lee in RF. Matos and definitely Encarnacion are on the outside looking in (especially if Eldridge is a full go). Wish they could trade Matos for something somewhat valuable if he can't stick in.
[ Edited by tl57 on Feb 18, 2026 at 12:33 PM ]
