MVN: Most Valuable Network

Exit Manny; enter Jason Bay. Exit a left-fielder, enter a left-fielder. Exit the cleanup hitter; enter … well, where should Jason Bay hit?

Jason Bay made perfectly clear at his introductory press conference that he doesn’t have any intention of wholly supplanting his predecessor at position seven. He advised Red Sox Nation ahead of his first game in Boston that he’s “not going to be Manny Ramirez”.

In many ways, that’s a good thing; in others, perhaps not. Specifically, Manny’s departure and Bay’s arrival creates a bit of a conundrum for Tito: what should the post-Manny batting order be?

The simplest solution would obviously be to simply slip Bay into the cleanup spot vacated by Manny. He’s had plenty of success there in his career, posting a .288/.388/.525 line with 58 homers in 992 at-bats out of the fourth-spot for the Pirates. But Bay – as indicated by his mediocre performance in Interleague play – may experience some of the league-adjustment pains that plagued J.D. Drew last season, and thrusting him into a vital offensive role immediately may not be a great idea.

Another option would be to bat Bay in the three-hole, where he’s a lifetime .268/.361/.491 hitter with 50 homers in 1029 at-bats. The trouble with that is, as long as Pedroia and Youkilis remain atop the batting order, opposing pitchers would get to face three consecutive righties before they see their first lefty (David Ortiz would slide down to the cleanup spot). This problem could be remedied by bumping J.D. Drew into the two-hole, thus creating a lineup of Pedroia-Drew-Bay-Ramirez-Lowell-Youkilis-Lowrie-Uh-Oh. In my opinion, this is superior to option one, though the problem of throwing Bay directly into the heart-of-the-order fire persists.

Bay could also bat fifth, the spot out of which he’s had the most success in his career, and the spot he occupied in his Red Sox debut on Friday night. Bay’s career line from the five-hole is a robust .331/.413/.562, albeit in just 329 at-bats (which could very well mean that this is an aberration). Of course, such a lineup would also have be very righty-heavy at the top; since J.D. Drew would likely bat sixth in this version of the order, four of the Sox’s top-five hitters would bat from the right side of the plate. However, it could become more attractive if Jacoby Ellsbury regains his stroke and moves back into the leadoff spot, moving Pedroia back to second, and Youkilis back into the middle of the order.

Assuming, for now, that Ellsbury will remain in the cellar and Mike Lowell will not miss significant time with the right hip strain he sustained on Friday, I’d prefer option two: Pedroia-Drew-Bay-Ortiz-Lowell-Youkilis-Lowrie … and the automatic outs. Tito would obviously need to get Big Papi’s go-ahead to bat him cleanup, and an OK from J.D. Drew to move up to two-hole, but if neither of them objects, this option seems the most attractive. I’m also in favor of using the same lineup whether the opposing starter is a southpaw or a northpaw.

The goal of this column was to generate some discussion about what the post-Manny batting order should be. So, with that in mind, how would you assort the batters? Would you alternate lineups based on the opposing pitcher’s handedness or a certain hitter’s track record against him?

---Daniel Rathman