Wouldnt Hunter fit better behind Ford instead of batting third?

Stewart, Ford, Hunter, Morneau, Mauer, Cuddyer, Jones, SS, Rivas

Ford led the team last year in BA and OBP (sorry for the mild stats injection, BG) so Lewwwwwww batting second makes more sense to me.

Due to his flailing at bad pitches, I think Hunter would benefit most from batting in front of the good Doctor.

Of course, if Hunter grows some discipline at the plate and Mauer sets the American League ablaze, swapping them might make sense.

Apparently Gardy's goal is to split up the lefties and the righties. Right now it's LLRLRLRSR for the listed lineup.

Stewart's a right-handed hitter, so it's actually RLRL...

As for me, I'd swap Hunter and Ford but otherwise it's okay.

Oh, and this topic borders on analysis. It might actually require recourse to statistics and such. Be careful, Batlings! Don't want to put any of the sass at risk...

Your second best on base guy bats fifth, and your swing from the achilles, especially if the pitch is low and outside guy bats third. Does Gardy understand this game, or is he merely showing his great respect for Torii's "clubhouse presense"?Rivas seems to have the ninth spot sewn up again;what a tribute to one of the great ones: he can never be dropped in the order, just removed entirely.

Without Blanco in the Lineup,
Rivas is our Pitcher! (Although I think Blanco hit 8th last year, with Rivas still behind him, even though rivas was a good .035 or so better).

Since this is Batgirl and we can talk about that kind of stuff here...

...I wonder about the Feng Shui of the names! Do they generate the proper "whup-ass" karma that I enjoy in the Twins so well?

I agree that it makes more sense to have Lew hit second because of his speed and on base percentage. The problem for Gardy is that he wants Morneau to hit fourth and does not want to hit Maur and Morneau back to back. (if they had back to back what is the chance that either would aver face a right handed pitcher late in the game?) I think the best solution is to hit Maur third and Morneau fifth. That will depend on some right handed hitter stepping up this year to be a theat hitting fourth.

Here's how I saw the Twins personnel shaping up back in January... and I don't think I've changed much at all, except more convinced of Joe Mauer's spot in the lineup.

1, Stewart lf
2. Mauer c
3. Ford dh
4. Morneau 1b
5. Hunter cf
6. Jones rf
7. Cuddyer 3b
8. Castro ss
9. Rivas 2b

Punto inf
Ojeda inf
LeCroy c
Ryan of
Redmond c

Santana lhp
Radke rhp
Lohse rhp
Silva rhp
Mays rhp

Rowland-Smith lhp
Balfour rhp
Crain rhp
Rincon rhp
Romero lhp
Nathan rhp

others
----------
Durbin rhp
Bonser rhp
Guerrier rhp
Liriano lhp

Miller c
Tiffee inf
Kubel of
Restovich of
Rios of

Because I only got to see him as a DH last year, can anybody give me a heads up on Lew Ford's outfield play. Is he adequate enough to give Stewart and Jones an occasional day off? If so, I'm confident in the Twins ability to contend for years to come.

All contents above copyrighted... blah blah blah. lol

I have a question about the rotation. If Joe Mays is back in shape, as all indications say he is, then why isn't he being mentioned as the THIRD starter? I mean, isn't he actually better, at his best, than Silva or Lohse? OR ... not?

James, Lew is a far SUPERIOR defender in the outfield as compared to Shannon Stewart. It's not even close. Gardy just has some lingering "loyalty" to veterans/highly paid players, so he won't put Ford out there in favor of Stewart. It is ridiculous, especially considering that Stewart is oft-injured and could get hurt out there. Gardy knowingly hampers the Twins' chances of winning.

Sean... that's good to know about Ford, but I already knew of Stewart's mediocrity. You didn't say whether Ford was any good or why. lol

I'll reword... how much of a drop off is there from Jacque Jones to Lew Ford?

As far as Gardenhire goes... you Twins fans are blessed. You're talking about hindering your team with Stewart, a proven producer and one of the first signs I saw of the Twins turning it around as an organization with some long-term health... Dusty Baker continues to throw guys like Jose Macias and Neifi Perez out there as options while our Lew Fords (Jason Dubois and David Kelton) wither on the ivy.

If he played for the Cubs, Lew Ford would have already been playing for the Twins by now. lol

Also.. anybody know of any Twins who I didn't mention on that list who might be sleepers?

James, I agree about Shannon Stewart. I've been noticing that he doesn't get as much credit as I feel he's due. When the Twins signed him to a longer term deal after the trade, I was really glad. I took it as a sign that the Twins noticed his effect on the offense, too. He's not quite Ichiro but my perception is that he's one of the better lead off hitters in the game. I'm really glad he's still around. I'm not sure that our offense would be the same without him.