Best heart of the Order?

[George_Foreman]

I think the Braves have a very underrated one. But I think I am going to have to pick Boston. Pitchers die to see Big Papi, then Many, then...it doesn't even matter. Drew is a very good 5 hitter. I see them a little better than the Yanks one.

People forget that Chipper posted an OPS over 1.000 last year and that McCann's was .960. I mean, just going by average 2006 OPS, the Braves three beat Beltran/Delgado/Wright by 20 points, and ARod/Abreu/Giambi by 30 points, and they beat Chicago by a wide margine. (Of course, that's with Lee's "poor" .875 OPS. Chicago wins if you use his 2005 numbers, 'course, then you can argue that you have to use Sori's 2005 numbers, too, and we're back to square one. )

So at the very least, the Braves need to be in this discussion, and you can easily make a case that they're at (or near) the top of the list.

Note: by the standard used above, Manny, Ortiz, and Drew absolutly murder everyone and it's not even close.

[DevilDriver]

Boston easily here. Ortiz is the best left-handed hitter in MLB, Manny is up there with Pujols as the two best right-handed hitters in baseball, and Drew is an outstanding 5-hole hitter.

Drew is "outsanding"? I disagree. Drew is a good 5 hole hitter, which is why I didn't consider Boston. If the question was asking about the best 3-4 combo, I'd say you were probably right.

You don't think .290+ avg/.400+ OBP/.500+ SLG is outstanding for the 5th hitter in a lineup?

[sportsaddict]

Don't you at least want to consider Pujols/Rolen/Edmonds? I don't think they are the best heart of the order, and I know I'm biased, but shouldn't they at least be in the conversation, as Pujols is the best hitter in baseball and Rolen is always solid, even though Edmonds is on a downswing. Just wanted to throw that out there.

[Bloody Nipples]

I'm not sure why everyone is so down on the rockies. Holliday and Atkins are beasts, and Helton is not done mashing either. I'm not saying they should be at the top of this list, but definitely not at the bottom.

[Lukin13]

If we are actually talking "heart of the order" and not "top 3 hitters" this is my list.

1. White Sox (Konerko, Thome, Dye) Best chance for all 40/115/.300. Not the scariest but definitely the safest pick
2. Mets (Beltran, Delgado, Wright) Lacking a tad in the average cat, but relatively yound and would seem to have not found a celing just yet. Less injury risk than most on list.
3. Rockies (Atkins, Holiday, Helton) Another safe bet and the lineup with the most upside.
4. Red Sox (Papi, Manny, Drew) If you can look past the injury risk and the lack of any upside, boy will they bop.
5. Blue Jays (Wells, Hurt, Glaus) Killer lineup, and even though the odds of Big Frank and Glaus making it through the year safe and sound are slim... you can plug Rios in, and they still belong.

Why no Yanks??
Yankees (Abreu, Arod, Giambi) Abreu has unreal OBP but only 15 hrs last year, Arod is obv solid, and Giambi is a beast but hits for the worst average of any player listed and has to be as much of a injury and bust risk as any player listed. Zero upside with the Yanks and most likey 20 less homers than any of the top 5.

[wrveres]

I'm not sure why everyone is so down on the rockies. Holliday and Atkins are beasts, and Helton is not done mashing either. I'm not saying they should be at the top of this list, but definitely not at the bottom.

salary aside, who would you rather have?
Rodriguez-Jeter-Abreu
Holliday-Atkins-Helton

for me its a no brainer

[denicola_dominates]

forget all the rest.......NY NY NY Yankees have the best overall batting lineup in America and have for about fiev years but have yet to win a world series in that span???

[Bloody Nipples]

I'm not sure why everyone is so down on the rockies. Holliday and Atkins are beasts, and Helton is not done mashing either. I'm not saying they should be at the top of this list, but definitely not at the bottom.

salary aside, who would you rather have?
Rodriguez-Jeter-Abreu
Holliday-Atkins-Helton

for me its a no brainer

Sure, I'd take the Yankees, too. But I dont think the difference is as big as people have been saying so far.

[Dan Lambskin]

i went White Sox, that's 3 guys all capable of 35-40 HR...you think any pitcher wants to face that late in a game with a 1 run lead?

...and i agree, the poll is "best 3 hitters", not heart of the order

[BronXBombers51]

It really depends what the question is. If it's 'best 3 hitters' then I'm going with the Yankees. I'm not sure anyone can match Jeter-Abreu-Rodriguez. If it's 'heart of the order' and I have to put Giambi in for Jeter, then maybe it isn't the Yankees.

In terms of overall lineup though, I think it's easily the Yankees. They have about 6 or 7 guys who can be considered very good to great hitters.