Update- Bay/Jones, dumping Carlos Lee

[Minoso Express]

Thanks to all for valuable input. I'm waiting to see if the Jones/Bay trade will go through.

Meanwhile, I've dumped Lee and taken Brady Clark. Lee was going to DH for me, so Clark will fill the same role. High avg. and OBP. His defense is better than Lee's, too, should I need to play him. My every day outfield is looking like this:

either Jones or Bay in CF; Abreu in RF; Burrell in LF.

I have Varitek catching with Yadier Molina as b/u; Dunn at 1B; Grudzielanek at 2B; Figgins at 3B; Jeter at SS. Bench consists of Hatteberg, Yadier Molina, Geoff Blum and Jason Repko.

I'm pondering my lineup possibilities-- with Abreu, Figgy and Jeter (and possibly Bay), filling the 1-2-3 spots, the possibilities are interesting. I'm hoping Dunn, Burrell and Clark provide enough power along the way.

My starting rotation at PETCO is Smoltz, Garland, Oswalt and Garcia. I have Wood as a potential spot-starter or long reliever. Chris Reitsma, Chris Hammond, Tavarez, Peralta, Putz and Wickman also in the bullpen. No expensive closer, but I'm figuring I might have this covered between Reitsma and Wickman and on paper, at any rate, my starting 4 ought to do well in PETCO.

Assuming I don't get Bay in the trade, I'm not sure where to fit Jones in the lineup, especially at PETCO, but don't know that I should dump Jones and take, say-- a guy like Sizemore (who's an available FA at the moment) instead, getting a possible substantial closer or SP ugrade with the spare 3-4 million?

Any thoughts?

[Minoso Express]

The Jones for Bay trade did not work out, so no worries about Bay playing CF.

For lack of a more viable option, my starting OF will be Jones in CF, Burrell in LF, Abreu in RF. The plus side to having two "3's" surrounding Jones is that they both have terrific arms-- especially Abreu.

[MICHAELTARBELL]

Agree, never put a 4(+1)e4 in CF!!

And, with all that OBP surrounding him, Andruw should drive in some runs for you... :wink:

[Minoso Express]

Thanks, Mrtarbell. That's the theory, anyway. We'll see if HAL and the Strat Gods put it into practice. :)

In truth, had the Bay trade gone through, I would have had to use him as a DH and would have gone through a slight lineup readjustment-- I have Clark -- 4(0)2, Figgy 3(+1)5 and Repko 2(-2)12 able to play CF but would deem none of these a permanent solution to an every day CFer. So some changes would have been made.

In the 80s game, I sometimes use Pedro Guerrero as a RFer (he's a 3 if memory serves) and that's worked out just fine. But I have never used anything but a 1 or a 2 in CF and never a 4 as a regular in any of my lineups and hope to avoid doing it in future!