Tony LaRussa in the house. Seriously though, that's why he always liked to bat guys like the Dave Henderson/Jim Edmonds/Larry Walker types in the 2 spot when he had enough power hitters. I find it surprising that few teams try it just to be different.

from a fantasy perspective...

if Gordon breaks out like he's showing and Cain stays healthy...and if Perez is as good as everyone thinks...

This might be one of the top 5 lineups in baseball. And that's not even homer talk. We are literally loaded with offensive talent.

Scary loaded.

Too bad that's not what wins championships.

basically I've reached for Alex Gordon in every fantasy league I'm in so far so I'm praying I don't look like such a dipshit...and I just couldn't justify drafting starters this year so I will need to find two Chris Sale's on the waiver wire of course.

Agree, stolen base threat in front, guy hitting the cover off the ball behind= steady diet of fastballs. Butler needs to bat 3rd

Yea except were stuck with Frenchy!!

every lineup is going to have at least one guy who can't hit...

I like the idea of Cain at leadoff and Gordon at #2

and then play April out and put the hottest bat at 4 between Hosmer, Perez and Moustakas

Bat Francoeur second. Problem solved. Dude is an on base machine, rarely strikes out, and takes a huge amount of walks. Yost would be labeled a genius.

That's really the only reason I've tolerated the Myers trade. It sucks, but if this team does not find pitching the next 6 years are a complete waste of time. And I really would probably rather have Shields than anyone available on the FA market. I'm a big fan of Shields. But we gave up a ton to get him.

But it's weird how it works. Smart football fans realize that QB's win titles and go crazy over it. However, smart baseball fans still seem to be enamored with offense and act as if pitching and defense are replaceable assets... even though teams with killer starting pitching and a couple great relievers usually fare better than teams with great offenses and average starters.

hence the Giants, with a less than average offense, continue to win every time they reach the postseason

I like Shields and all but his road ERA made me wonder what the **** is up with the guy...I think he is a good #2.

What we really needed to do was stumble into a Clayton Kershaw rather than a Luke Hochevar and then I could really envision this team winning a World Series.

An offense can carry a team to the playoffs but realistically, once we got there, we probably couldn't win a series with a staff that consists of a solid #2, a borderline #3 and two #4's...

no one hits in the postseason

I'd rather have traded Hosmer than Myers for the record...I think Dayton said the Rays would have taken Hosmer which I would have parted with before I parted with Myers...but what's the point of even talking about that anymore really.

Yeah, that was going to be my example. The Giants won the World Series last year in a game where they started Gregor Blanco in LF and Ryan Theriot at DH. Ryan Theriot. At DH. Their 1B Brandon Belt hit 7 HRs last year.

Granted you need an offense better than that to survive the American League. No doubt... but still. That'd be like the Royals winning a World Series starting Chris Getz at DH.

Lineup I like...

Alex Gordon
Alcides Escobar
Billy Butler
Mike Moustakas
Salvador Perez
Eric Hosmer
Lorenzo Cain
Jeff Francouer
Chris Getz

I couldn't possibly agree with you more strongly on this topic. Batting order is a horse**** topic, I am always mystified when people yell at the manager about batting order.

The only thing that matters is getting your best hitters the most at bats. OK, I'll admit that maybe its best to have a high-OBP guy at #1, but aside from that, I want to see Gordon and Butler in the 1st inning every day.

Cain, Butler, Gordon, Moustakes, Perez, Hosmer, Francouer, Getz, Escobar