fun stuff...create your best (active player) lineup.?

Lineup:

1. RF - Ichiro L

2. C - Joe Mauer L

3. 1B - Albert Pujols R

4. DH - Prince Fielder L

5. 3B - Evan Longoria R

6. 2B - Chase Utley L

7. SS - Hanley Ramirez R

8. LF - Carl Crawford L

9. CF - Franklin Gutierrez R

Some pop, some average, a good balance of lefties and righties, and very good defense.

Rotation:

1. Zack Greinke RHP

2. Felix Hernandez RHP

3. Jon Lester LHP

4. Roy Halladay RHP

5. Cliff Lee LHP

Not a whole lot of special thinking going on here, just picking 5 of the best pitchers in the game. There's probably 3 or 4 others who you could switch in and it wouldn't make a whole lot of difference.

Bullpen:

Long relief/mop up: Chan Ho Park RHP

Lefty specialist: C.J. Wilson LHP

Middle lefty: Matt Thornton LHP

Middle righty: Jonathan Papelbon RHP

7th inning: David Aardsma RHP

Set-up: Jonathan Broxton RHP

Closer: Mariano Rivera RHP

Again, just throwing together a bunch of good arms here.

Bench:

Matt Weiters (C)

Pablo Sandoval (CIF/3rd C)

Jason Bartlett (MIF)

Ben Zobrist (OF/IF)

I'm going with a couple of switch-hitters here for pinch-hitting flexibility, and looking at positional versatility as well.

1. LF: Carl Crawford B:L

2. DH: Joe Mauer B:L

3. SS: Hanley Ramirez B:R

4. 1B: Albert Pujols B:R

5. 2B: Chase Utley B:L

6. RF: Matt Kemp B:R

7. 3B: Ryan Zimmerman B:R

8. CF: Adam Jones B:R

9. C: Matt Weiters B:S

Starting Rotation

1. Tim Lincecum RHP

2. Roy Halladay RHP

3. CC Sabathia LHP

4. Felix Hernandez RHP

5. Clayton Kershaw LHP

Bullpen

Long Relief/mop up: Scott Downs LHP

Lefty Specialist: George Sherrill LHP

Middle Lefty: J.A. Happ LHP

Middle Righty: J.J. Putz RHP

7th inning man: J.P. Howell LHP

Set-up: Trevor Hoffman RHP

Closer: Joe Nathan RHP

Bench

C: Brian McCann

MIF: Edwin Maysonet

COF/CIF: Mark DeRosa

OF: Hunter Pence

There you have it. Total ended up being just under $120M. Which would be the 5th highest in 2009. One position player over 30 (obviously you have to have Albert), one SP over 30 (gotta have Halladay, I think), only 7 total players over 30. And one of them being Trevor Hoffman, because that guy has probably the best change up in history.

C - Joe Mauer $8.25

1B - Albert Pujols $14.30

2B - Dustin Pedroia $6.75

3B - David Wright $9.16

SS - Hanley Ramirez $11.66

LF - Ryan Braun $5.63

CF - Josh Hamilton $0.55

RF - Nick Markakis $11.00

Actual Lineup:

SS - Hanley Ramirez - R

2B - Dustin Pedroia - R

C - Joe Mauer - L

1B - Albert Pujols - R

CF - Josh Hamilton - L

LF - Ryan Braun - R

3B - David Wright - R

RF - Nick Markakis - L

Total payroll: $67.3 Million

Payroll room left: $112.7 Million

Starters:

Cliff Lee $9

Zack Greinke $9.5

Josh Beckett $12.5

Brandon Webb $8.5

Tim Lincecum $0.65

Starters Payroll: $40.15 Million

Total Payroll: $107.45 Million

Payroll Room left: $72.55 Million

Bench:

C - Yadier Molina $3.88

1B/3B - Kevin Youkilis $10.00

OF - Jacoby Ellsbury $0.45

2B/SS - Erick Aybar $0.46

Bench Payroll: $14.79 Million

Total Payroll: $122.24 Million

Payroll Room Left: $57.76 Million

Bullpen:

LRP: Justin Masterson $0.42

MRP: Jonathan Broxton: $1.83

MRP: Brian Fuentes $8.50

MRP: Fransisco Rodriguez $9.17

SU: Joakim Soria $1.00

SU: Jonathan Papelbon $6.25

CP: Joe Nathan $11.25

Bullpen Payroll: $38.42 Million

Total Payroll: $160.66 Million

Total Payroll Room Left: $19.34 Million

RF-Ichiro

SS-Jeter

LF-Manny

3B-Arod

1B-Pujols

C-Mauer

DH-R. Howard

2B-Utley

CF-T. Hunter

Rotation

CC

C.Lee

Lincecum

Halladay

Grieke

Bullpen

L. R.-Chad Gaudan

Lefty Special-Marte

Middle-Zumaya

Middle-Alfredo Aceves

7th-broxton

Set up-Krod

Closer-Mariano

Bench

Jose Molina

Brett Gardner

Chone Figgins

J. Hairrston JR

Carlos Lee