Predicting The 2014 Opening Day Lineup

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     By the time this has been posted, there will likely be a flurry of moves made to make this crudely photo-shopped lineup asinine if the front office continues to delve into the market at their current rate. If the good guys opened the season tomorrow, this would be my gues as to how the lineup card shakes out. My initial thought looking at this lineup is that it isn't unreasonable to assume that 65-70 wins is attainable. There are certainly several uncertainties as far as how the roster will shape up, the bullpen, first base, George Springer's placement, and how the rotation will shake out included. Given his super two status, chances are that GSP may begin his season in AAA OKC, but boy would it be nice to see him as soon as possible. Regardless of how it shakes out, this looks to be the year that the bottoming out ceases and the win column begins to trend north for the first time in three years.

Although they were a historically bad bunch last year, the bullpen is a very intriguing piece of this roster. The additions of Qualls, Crain, and Albers certainly sures things up quite a bit from the 7th on, but who is the odd man out moving forward? There are a lot arms vying for slots on the staff, and there are only so many spots available. As is, it's safe to assume that 1-4 in the rotation would look something like Cosart, Feldman, Oberholtzer, and Peacock, but it gets grey after that with Keuchel, Williams, Wojciechowski, Bass, Clemens, Harrell, White, Owens, and possibly McHugh all battling for that 5th spot. As it stands it wouldn't surprise me to see Keuchel claim the 5th slot given his metrics were far better than his standard numbers. We will likely see Bass, Wojciechowski, and Alex White start the year in the OKC rotation or bullpen to find themselves in Houston at some point in the 2014 campaign; however, we could very well see Bass slot into Downs' spot if the good guys opt to go with only one lefty in the 'pen. I truly have no idea where Williams will slot in, but I would imagine he fills a flex long relief/late relief/spot start role for the entire campaign. If guys like Cosart, Obie, and Peacock can continue to progress and avoid a sophomore slump, paired with a consistent Scott Feldman, the rotation could shape up alright. Although the closer role is still undefined, It will very likely be Crain or Fields manning that slot out of spring. Final thought on the bullpen; Peter Moylan is going to need to have a strong spring to make the squad out of camp, but given he is indeed healthy, he's a very intriguing guy. The bullpen will improve by leaps and bounds and should tack up to 10 wins on the W-L column right off the bat. I'm looking forward to not experiencing horrific and dangerous spikes in blood pressure when the bullpen door is opened this go around, it should be wondrous. 

That lineup certainly looks better than this previous opening days 1-9, does it not? It's a very exciting notion to consider that slots 1-3 are filled by former or potential all-stars, and the fourth spot is held by a big bopper with a very realistic shot at putting 35+ over the fence. There is a very intriguing combination of speed and power in this lineup. Domingo, Castro, and Carter all have a very realistic shot at hitting 20+ longballs and driving in 80+ runs, and Altuve, Fowler, and Villar all will likely steal 20+ bases with Villar likely eclipsing 50 swiped bags. Finally solidifying the lead-off spot with one of the best in the business in Fowler should most definitely bode well for the prospects of on-base and general run production, especially for the likes of Castro and Carter in the meat of the order. Defensively, Fowler, Altuve, Dominguez, and Castro will all likely yield average to above league average defense. As of the DFA of Wallace, first base is wide open and there should be competition in spring, but I don't see Amador or Singleton in the opening day lineup as I would imagine the front office would like them to garner more at bats in Oklahoma City, leaving recently acquired Jesus Guzman with the opening day job. Guzman is an intriguing RH stick, as his minor and major league slugging has been a cause of interest moving forward, and Steamer and Oliver projections have him near 20 homeruns at around a .400 or north slugging percentage. I quite honestly took a shot in the dark on the backup utility infielder role, as I don't see Petit, MarGo, or Izturis with any edge over one another. Bob Grossman will be one of my favorites to watch this year and behold how he progresses as his on-base tool transfers to the next level. All in all, the lineup should be improved in nearly every facet, as is the entire roster from seasons past. 

Considering the feel of the offseason, one can't help but assume that some of the surplus starting options are packaged up and dealt before long at some point this campaign. There is a wealth of fringe depth at this point in guys like JD Martinez, Rudy Owens, Lucas Harrell, Brett Wallace, Paul Clemens, and Rhiner Cruz among others, and I could see Jeff Luhnow working his wizardry in the form of some transaction. It was a beautiful thing to finally see the new regime delve into the free agent market, and for the first time in three to four years, there's rational reasoning behind optimism for the direction of the club.