Recommended lineups - you know, the lineup your players are in the first time you open up the Manager's Center for a team - are sometimes on the money but, in my experience, often very screwy. Can someone decipher what Sparky is thinking here?

You can say Gordon is at the top due to his sped/SBs, but Raines is more of a speed thread and is set up to bat fifth. This is presumably due to his SLG, but then notice how McGee and, in particular, Wagner (who also has a higher OBP than Raines) are below him in the order.

Also, because this makes sense, Ashburn is given the 8 hole, despite what's essentially a tie for best OBP on the team.

Name (Bats)	Pos	Order	%	PA/162	AB/162	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG	$
Dee Gordon '15 (L)	2B*	1	100	653	615	4	46	58	.333	.359	.418	7.30M
Wade Boggs '85 (L)	3B*	2	100	758	653	8	78	2	.368	.450	.478	8.30M
Dan Brouthers '85 (L)	1B*	3	100	638	589	7	59	42	.359	.408	.543	6.97M
Buster Posey '15 (R)	C *	4	100	623	557	19	95	2	.318	.379	.470	6.09M
Tim Raines '85 (S)	RF*	5	100	670	579	11	41	70	.320	.405	.475	6.27M
Willie McGee '85 (S)	CF*	6	100	652	612	10	82	56	.353	.384	.503	7.14M
Honus Wagner '05 (R)	SS*	7	100	653	581	6	101	57	.363	.427	.505	8.39M
Richie Ashburn '55 (L)	LF*	8	100	678	561	3	42	12	.338	.449	.448	7.73M

How would this be the optimal lineup for this team, in any train of thought?

I can't see it either. 
Dee Gordon bats 8th in this lineup IMO.  Ashburn would lead off.  something like............

Ashburn
Boggs
Wagner
Brouthers
Posey
McGee
Raines
Gordon

Ton of speed from Raines on in this lineup!

I set it

1. Ashburn
2. Boggs
3. Wagner
4. Brouthers
5. McGee
6. Raines
7. Posey
8. Gordon

Since Posey's OBP is low and his HRs won't help much in the -4/-4 confines of Municipal Stadium.

In general I find that Sparky puts the player with the most SB, not necessarily the best actual basestealer, as leadoff. I have never understood the number 2 slot logic, as often I find that Sparky puts catchers batting second, which is about the only place you never want a catcher to bat except on exceptional days maybe Tim McCarver. 

That is because the Merovingian and his wife, Persephone often do those batting orders. They usually go by how the names sound to them, of course after the stemware is tipped.

Where else in the lineup should someone named "Dee" bat?

Best SBs: 1. Best overall hitter: 3. Most HRs: 4, 5, 6, in that order. Of players left: Best OBP: 2. Best SLG: 7. Last: 8.

At least, that's one possible logic it could be using here.

My lineup: Ashburn, Boggs, Wagner, Brouthers, Raines, McGee, Posey, Gordon

Its Lasorda, not sparky 

Posted by ozomatli on 11/25/2015 2:55:00 PM (view original):
I set it

1. Ashburn
2. Boggs
3. Wagner
4. Brouthers
5. McGee
6. Raines
7. Posey
8. Gordon

Since Posey's OBP is low and his HRs won't help much in the -4/-4 confines of Municipal Stadium.

This is clearly best. The 3 best OBP players at the top of the lineup works well here as they will bat the most. Wagner also acts as an RBI guy as well with his slugging ability. After this slugging ability should be used in ascending order as it is done here. Some would say bat Gordon 9th as it would save a Plate appearance appprox.  every ninth game. Posey as well as SB's can't be over rated as studies have shown that SB's are not as productive as many would think. Plate appearance differential shouldn't hinder you if you are getting these players out of games against weak opponnents or when blowouts occur.  

I have also generally seen that the best SB threat being placed at 1, but that is not the case on my team, as Raines both has more SBs and does so at a better percentage than Gordon. Very strange

Posted by ArlenWilliam on 11/25/2015 5:31:00 PM (view original):
That is because the Merovingian and his wife, Persephone often do those batting orders. They usually go by how the names sound to them, of course after the stemware is tipped.

Where else in the lineup should someone named "Dee" bat?

Persephone may end up making sure one of them never made it to the plate at all!

I honestly don't think bathing order makes much of a difference in Sim. In real baseball, yes, because strategy is affected by real factors...such as who might be swinging a hot bat or hitter matchups against the pitcher or whatever else.

I tend to organize lineups mostly on the number of PAs and draft my teams accordingly. I don't know what players you have on your bench that might platoon or fill in with these guys so I'd have to base a lineup just on what's given.

I'd go:
1. Boggs - MUST lead him off. He has 758 PAs and to get the most out of those PAs he will need to lead off. You want a player to exceed the number of PAs he actually had in order to get the most out of that player.
2. Ashburn - Good OBP. I really don't like the player though. Probably provides good defense, but I'd prefer more PAs. Hopefully you have a switch hitter with a high BA to back him up.
3. Raines - Solid. Will need to rest.
4. McGee - Very solid. Will need to rest.
5. Brothers - Solid. A righty or switch platoon would be nice.
6. Wagner - Can't go wrong. Gotta hit him low in the order to save PAs. But should rack up RBIs in the 6 hole. Maybe a defensive replacement would be nice.
7 Gordon - Don't like this player. I'll be curious how he performs for you. I like him in real life, not Sim.
8. Posey - Weakest hitter in the lineup. He won't hit even half of his 19 real life HRs. He will most likely bat less than his weak .318 average...I'm assuming this is a high cap league. You want to bat him last too to save PAs on your catcher.

I'd probably dump Posey for a much cheaper Catcher...perhaps do a righty/lefty platoon and try to save some money and then take a pricier outfielder than Ashburn who has 700 plus plate appearances...maybe Max Carey's best season. Just my 2 cents. I'm probably way wrong, But it's a fun thread and think it's cool you presented this for discussion.

What ballpark you using? Astrodome?? AT&T?? Griffith?

cwillis, this team is in the Back to the Future tribute league.  Options were somewhat limited to fit a team within the league rules and salary cap.  Dee Gordon was one of the best 2B available for the theme.  I'm using him, too.  Not bad so far, either.  20 games in and he's hitting .341/.349/.400 with 14 runs and a few SB.  0 errors and 1 + play, too.  I've actually let him hit leadoff against some RHP, but he's my #8 against all LHP.  I have Raines, McGee, Brouthers, and Wagner as well. 

Park is Municipal.

We have very different methods, cwillis! I almost never drafts players with over 700 PAs as I feel I end up paying too much. None of these 8 will be resting a single game. As long as their fatigue is 90 or higher, I see minimal performance dropoff. In less restrictive leagues, this usually allows me to save a bunch. I'll post an example team later for discussion purposes.

Recent 104 game winner.

Name (Bats)	Pos	Order	%	PA	AB	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG	$
Roberto Alomar '92 (S)			94	818	714	7	76	42	.298	.385	.405	5.19M
Omar Vizquel '99 (S)			97	772	705	2	91	35	.335	.391	.417	5.52M
Max Carey '25 (S)			96	778	678	6	136	48	.344	.422	.460	5.87M
Bip Roberts '92 (S)			91	743	674	4	164	12	.353	.409	.473	4.40M
Chris Otte '15 (L)			100	173	150	3	31	0	.347	.416	.473	200K
Miguel Dilone '80 (S)			91	708	670	1	150	47	.382	.411	.457	4.39M
Tim Raines '81 (S)			96	643	552	12	103	55	.301	.393	.455	4.27M
Ted Simmons '71 (S)			91	691	653	8	149	0	.340	.368	.449	4.85M

RL PAs:
Alomar: 671
Vizquel: 664
Carey: 657
Roberts: 601
Dilone: 574
Raines: 545
Simmons: 563

Late in the season (in a push to get home field throughout the playoffs) I moved Raines and Dilone to 1 and 2, respectively. Not counting our AAA player, the 7 starters sat out a combined 26 games (due to auto rest settings).

That being said, there is definite value in using your bench in ways other than Michael Young, Wilson Delgado, etc. Not leaving any cash on the table and using a bunch of platoons is another way to be very successful. The question in this thread was just trying to understand the logic behind Sparky's recommended lineup.