Possibilities For Our Opening Day Lineup

As it stands, our 2010 Opening Day lineup could look very interesting (not to mention lackluster) if no moves our made in light of the current Beltran fiasco. With Adam LaRoche signing with the Diamondbacks my personal choice to fix our lack of power is off the market. However, other (and cheaper) options still remain on the market. While Carlos Delgado is the most likely candidate to come back on a 1 year deal, 1B Hank Blalock, 1B Mike Jacobs, and 1B Ryan Garko all would be my personal choices to fill a power void we have. All of them are not everyday players, but could fit in nicely as a platoon player with our incumbent 1B Daniel Murphy.

Jacobs is the lesser of the three, because he mostly offers power with little else coming to the table. Blalock would be my second choice, only because his slugging and average were better than Jacobs, however they are strikingly similar. My choice would be to sign Ryan Garko.

Garko struggled with San Fransisco after being traded there, but his stats in Cleveland are actually quite good. His average was .285 and hit 11 HR in 78 games, which almost beat everyone on the Mets for the entire season. He has the ability to drive in runs (90 in 2008) and does not strike out much. He would be a fantastic addition to the bottom of the order, and could flourish in a platoon situation.

That being said, our lineup on opening day could be quite interesting. Without Beltran, everyone's role in the order is thrown for a loop. With Angel Pagan seemingly taking over for Beltran in CF, I would advocate letting him start out in the leadoff spot, which he excelled in in 2009. Louis Castillo can stay in the #2 slot, which he also excelled in last year, which would shift Jose Reyes into the #3 slot. I was intrigued by Jerry's idea last spring, and actually think that Reyes could flourish there. Reyes does not have the flashy power numbers of most #3 hitters, but his ability to hit doubles and triples is almost unrivaled. Having both Pagan and Castillo, whom are both good table setters and good runners, be knocked in by Reyes' doubles is something I can see working out tremendously. Wright and Bay would fill out the #4 and #5 slots, which deepens the entire lineup. Francouer can stay in the #6 slot, which is somewhere he is comfortable. Garko/Murphy who both do not strike out much would need to hit between Frency and Molina to brake up the two free swingers. I feel like this is the most appropriate way to have the lineup until Beltran is able to return in May June or July.

The lineup would look something like this:

CF Pagan
2B Castillo
SS Reyes
3B Wright
LF Bay
RF Francouer
1B Garko/Murphy/Delgado?
C Molina

Thoughts?