Lets assume he repeats something along the lines of his rookie year...and does something like that throughout his prime. After all he was 26 last yr.

 

So - for the bulk of his career - where do you see him being the best fit in the order?

Edited March 13, 200917 yr by Princess Dye

I see Alexei as a good 3 hitter on most teams, because of his high contact skills and being fast enough to not clog the bases, but TCQ and JD are both great guys for the 3 hole as it is, so with this club, I like Alexei down it the order more, like 6 or 7th.

If you put someone in front of him who is moderately patient and can take a walk, I love Alexei in the 2 hole in front of the power guys. He doesn't strike out a lot, is going to put the ball in play, and will benefit from having pitchers be in a position to have to throw strikes to him.

6th or 7th.

 

AJ should be 8th, Getz 9th.

I see Alexei as a good 3 hitter on most teams, because of his high contact skills and being fast enough to not clog the bases, but TCQ and JD are both great guys for the 3 hole as it is, so with this club, I like Alexei down it the order more, like 6 or 7th.

 

You are 100% spot on.

I like him in the two hole because of his high contact ability, speed, power, and low K rates.

If Alexei hits 2, who hits 1? Getz and Owens are both question marks.

If Alexei hits 2, who hits 1? Getz and Owens are both question marks.

Frankly I still go with Getz. Alexei's problem with the #1 slot is he has no patience whatsoever. Taking extra pitches is especially important for a leadoff man because it lets the other guys behind him see what he's throwing early in the game. Getz can at least take a walk, based on his minor league #'s.

At least for 2009, I see Alexei hitting leadoff vs LHP. He hit .312 with a .340 OBP in 2008 vs LHP. With Wise probably playing CF and hitting leadoff vs RHP, Alexei might be the next best option for the sox. They shouldn't put pressure on either Getz or Beckham by having them hit near the top of the order.

 

Vs. RHP, I see Alexei hitting 6th.

i like alexei batting second in the order

With our current team, I'd like to see him bat 2nd with Getz leading off. However, ideally, I'd prefer him in about the 6 hole, but you got to adjust for what you have.

i like alexei batting second in the order

Welcome aboard

 

It looks like the are trying Alexei #2. I haven't seen him bunt much or move runners over. We'll see how it goes. At least we know he's going to make contact.

I also like the idea of Alexi as our 2 hole hitter...

I don't think Ramirez should hit second. His OBP is fairly low. He really doesn't work counts, and since the White Sox probably won't have a guy ahead of him who will get into scoring position by himself very often, he would be forced to give himself up too much. Keep him lower in the line-up and let him rip.

Edited March 16, 200917 yr by Dick Allen

Welcome aboard

 

It looks like the are trying Alexei #2. I haven't seen him bunt much or move runners over. We'll see how it goes. At least we know he's going to make contact.

 

Bunting and moving runners over is completely overrated. It gets beaten to death, but if your #2 hitter is a damn good hitter, let him hit and keep the rally going. If you HAVE to play for one run, as in you are down by 1 late in the game, then yes, it makes sense, but that will happen once every 3-5 games or so.

 

That said...

 

I don't think Ramirez should hit second. His OBP is fairly low. He really doesn't work counts, and since the White Sox probably won't have a guy ahead of him who will get into scoring position by himself very often, he would be forced to give himself up too much. Keep him lower in the line-up and let him rip.

 

I agree completely with this. The Sox don't seem to have a good enough leadoff hitter to justify having Alexei hit 2nd.

I agree completely with this. The Sox don't seem to have a good enough leadoff hitter to justify having Alexei hit 2nd.

 

I suppose this is a very good point, but there isn't much alternative for our leadoff/#2 spot. If it's not Alexei batting #2, then I'd have to say stick AJ in there. The issue is we don't have great personal for traditional #1 and #2 hitters, so we have to deal with what we have.

7th...While i like his power, alexei makes an awful lot of outs to keep him at the top of the order

I suppose this is a very good point, but there isn't much alternative for our leadoff/#2 spot. If it's not Alexei batting #2, then I'd have to say stick AJ in there. The issue is we don't have great personal for traditional #1 and #2 hitters, so we have to deal with what we have.

The other problem is if you have Alexei bat second he will most likely try to be the best #2 hitter in the world and may try hitting behind guys, taking more pitches, etc.......and that really isn't his game. It could really screw him up. For some guys its a good thing, for a hacker, I'm not so sure.

 

Its similar to when Frank Thomas was young except exact opposite adjustments. There were a lot of baseball people who thought Frank should swing at more pitches, they thought he would hit even more homers and drive in more runs, but the White Sox, and I believe they were correct, didn't want to mess with a good thing, and didn't mind him taking a pitch a half an inch out of the zone.