Shouldn't we bring Tauchman back? His approach is great and each month he posted a really strong OBP. I don't believe PCA gets handed the CF job, I think he starts in Iowa without a doubt, but our roster lacks a solid CF option without him, and it also lacks LHB. Give him a million bucks and he's the perfect placeholder.
I'm posting under the impression that we are not bringing Bellinger back.
Personally I believe, without question, that Happ should be our leadoff hitter. He friggin walked 99 times this year and the ISO recovered to .180. I would absolutely stick him in the leadoff spot and expect a 350+ OBP with a really good approach to setting the table.
Seiya should bat 2nd. I am not crazy about putting relative slap-hitters like Nico there. Seiya is a great fit for that 2 spot in the order. I think he found an approach (coincedentally much like the change some of us had wished to see for 500 days) that works for him in the MLB and I expect him to be a lot more aggressive in the zone, which will actually boost his walk numbers when he starts getting pitched around so much. I believe he's our best chance at a 140-150 hitter. Something like 280/375/550 is possible.
From there I would probably put Swanson, who I believe is going to have a better offensive season and get back to the 115 range he was as a Brave.
Morel could be the cleanup guy. Live with the K's, he's probably going to hit 30-40 HR, there wasn't much difference between him and Alonso this year, brass tacks. We all want to believe Alonso is going to get back to being a 140 hitter and blame BABIP for everything but he eschews line drives for fly balls, and that has to be factored in, along with being a slow-as-horsefeathers pull-hitter, right? Do we really need to chase HR if the bottom-line results are similar to what we already have in-house? Why not try Morel at 1B, for that matter?
I actually like the idea of Nico batting 5th, which is unorthodox, but I like having his high-contact approach there. Knowing Ross, though, he's not ever going to do my lineup because he puts so much emphasis on breaking up same-handedness. But to do that the FO is going to need to get creative.
I hope we can bring back Candelario to play 3B. Seems like the injury impacted him significantly. However if we don't bring him back, I am less-than-enthused about every internal option at the position and we will lack LHB against RHP even more. I am not a fan of Madrigal. I would see if any team wants to trade for him. It does not appear the org has much faith in Morel's ability to play 3B. It's pretty much the biggest question I want to see how they answer, if they don't bring Jeimer back. Madrigal is not the answer, Cubs.
Gomes is fine for 7th. However, I strongly believe that C defense holds us back some. He and Amaya are basically identical in pop time and arm strength and both leave plenty to be desired in this age of trackmeets on the bases. I would sniff around to make a trade of Amaya and upgrade that position to push Gomes to back-up. Don't emphasize offense and instead get someone who can keep the ground game in check, and excels at framing, where we have not excelled in years.
Tauchman can be a good CF placeholder and can pretty much bat anywhere at the top or the bottom of the order.
Canario could turn out to be a decent DH. Recall that before the injury, he closed out 2022 on a bender with not just power but extreme improvement in his BBK. I think next year we could see a return to that. I'm fine with buying a bat to play there also. I'd be really interested if TOR wants to move Vlad, but I'm trying to avoid going too far off the rails and sticking to realistic moves. DH could already be in-house; it's just a matter of whether Ross will allow that approach or if he will demand a veteran.