What's Your Lineup?

Spring Training is underway and after dealing with my disappointment that the Red Sox did not get one more reliable starter for their rotation, I'm ready to welcome in the 2012 season and the beginning of the Bobby Valentine Era. I'm liking what I'm seeing and hearing from Bobby V so far in Spring Training. There's a lot more focus on nutrition, baseball fundamentals, and the new skipper's committed to keeping booze out of the clubhouse. This will be a big change from when Terry Francona ran the roost, but change was needed and has been for several years now (not just in reaction to last September).

As the players work out and get themselves ready to start playing baseball again and new faces appear on the 25-man roster, fans and media are abuzz about how Bobby V will fill out his lineup card on Opening Day. Let's be optimistic and say Carl Crawford is ready to play on April 5 in Detroit. Will this be the lineup we see?

1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF

2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B

3. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B

4. Kevin Youkilis, 3B

5. David Ortiz, DH

6. Carl Crawford, LF

7. Cody Ross, RF

8. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C

9. Mike Aviles, SS

This lineup most resembles last year's, with a few new names replacing the likes of Scutaro/Lowrie and Drew/Reddick. Here's an intriguing alternative:

1. Carl Crawford, LF

2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B

3. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF

4. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B

5. Kevin Youkilis, 3B

6. David Ortiz, DH

7. Cody Ross, RF

8. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C

9. Mike Aviles, SS

For this lineup to work, however, Crawford will need to raise his OBP and Ellsbury will need to continue to hit for power like he did last season. Batting Ortiz 6th may seem a little too far down, but to put him 5th would make the lineup too left-handed in the middle. There's also some debate as to who should get the majority of the playing time in RF when both Ellsbury and Crawford are healthy. Cody Ross might have more power, but Ryan Sweeney has the edge defensively an in career batting average (Sweeney: .283, Ross: .261 acc to baseball reference.com) as well. At SS, Mike Aviles has the better bat, but Nick Punto is known for his glove. It will be interesting to see how Valentine allots their playing time.

If Crawford can get himself on base at a decent clip, batting him leadoff would make the best use of his speed. Batting the version of Ellsbury who hit 32 HR last season (assuming the 2012 Ellsbury bears a strong resemblance) in the 3-hole gives him possibly 2 men on base and can boost his RBI total.

How about if Crawford is not ready to go on Opening Day? I believe the right field nod would go to Ryan Sweeney and Cody Ross would man left:

1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF

2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B

3. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B

4. Kevin Youkilis, 3B

5. David Ortiz, DH

6. Cody Ross, LF

7. Ryan Sweeney, RF

8. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C

9. Mike Aviles, SS

So where does Kelly Shoppach fit in? While his bat looks pretty woeful (in that an NL pitcher could probably out-hit him) he's an excellent defensive catcher. He has competition from Ryan Lavarnway, whose bat shows a lot of promise, but the defense might need some fine-tuning in Pawtucket. If he shows marked improvement behind the dish in Spring Training and Shoppach continues to struggle with the bat, however, things could get interesting.