Chris Davis is the key to the 2015 lineup

[25 Nuggets]

So I'm looking at the possibilities for the lineup based on names that we're hearing the Orioles linked to, and most of them are right handed bats that can play OF or DH. The Lineup currently looks like this IMO:

1. L De Aza - LF. There is a shortage of real lead off men available right now and it will be very difficult to find one. Dee Gordon is available but for what price... and Nori Aoki may not be much better than this guy. DD has repeated the phrase "De Aza has been comparable to Markakis the past three seasons" -- I think this is code for "he'll be our leadoff hitter". If he can maintain a .340 OBP with a little pop, fine.

2. R Pearce - 1B/RF/LF. I know some people still have Machado penciled here but the guy hasn't proven to be a good on-base player. Not to mention he's got two bum knees. Pearce is going to regress, but he should still be able to get on base and he's a good base runner. His positional flexibility is really going to help the lineup day in, day out. We'll see a .350 OBP with 15-20 HR out of him.

3. R Jones - CF. He really should be batting 4th or 5th but he's entrenched now so, on with the show.

4. L Davis - DH/1B. I'll say more on him at the end.

5. R ??? - DH/RF. This is most likely where the off season bat will line up. Could be the DH with Davis at 1B and Pearce in the OF, or could be the RF with Davis at DH and Pearce at 1B. But it'll be someone noted more for the bat. Mike Morse, Marlon Byrd, Kendrys Morales (switch hitter), what have you. If it's a LH bat somehow, you can flip Jones and Davis.

6. S Wieters - C. This is pretty much where he's always been in the lineup. Sometimes he's moved to cleanup, sometimes 7th, but he's the catcher with the bat and the slow legs. Good #6 hitter.

7. R Hardy - SS. Again, no reason to change his spot in the lineup. Low OBP, has power, doesn't steal anything.

8. R Machado - 3B. This is a RH heavy lineup and it's best to stack them at the end. Machado has lots of room to improve offensively but I really like him to stay here for now. When David Lough spells Pearce, Machado can bat 2nd and Lough 8th.

9. R Schoop - 2B. The obvious #9 hitter until he improves his BA/BB/K numbers. Even then it'll be hard to move him from this spot, and that's a good thing. If there arises a need to break this RH train up, Flaherty's always there to provide some LH bats at the bottom of the lineup.

So you can see the way things are, the changes we're expected to see are in the middle of the lineup. Davis is the lefty in the middle of the lineup. Who else are we going to put there? Wieters, coming off surgery? So there you have it. Davis needs to figure out his vision problem. If he puts together even a career average year (.253/.322/.493, 35 HR, 97 RBI) the lineup can go on without missing a beat. If he repeats 2014, there may be problems with a rather weak middle of the order.

[CTFan]

One could easily make that argument. We got almost nothing from Davis last year, so if he returns to form that will balance the loss of Cruz.

[Aristotelian]

Then again, if we stay put and Davis has a repeat of last season, it is going to be a very long year.