Wouldn’t mind seeing a lineup of..
Newman
Dickerson
Reynolds
Bell
Marte
But the current lineup seems to be doing just fine
I think Marte has to stay near the top because of his speed. Newman has proven himself to be almost a perfect leadoff hitter, since he's fast enough to cause trouble with infield hits + basestealing, and he's rarely striking out. I think I like Reynolds the best at #2, because he's the best hitter on the team IMO. There's probably a good case to be made to put Marte there due to the speed, and with Reynolds behind him he might get even better pitches to hit, but I think it's working fine as it is.
But if Dickerson continues to hit well, it makes this a really good problem to have... in a sense I sort of feel like we might benefit even more from Dickerson selling out for more power, but his reinvention has largely been driven by doubling down on his approach to hitting just about anything, and adequate power will still probably come.
I've been pretty outspoken about the risks and futility of keeping Dickerson around after his age 30 season, but if he would sign to a reasonable three year deal, it's not the worst idea in the world. I'm a fierce Polanco backer, but even setting aside that, I don't think he's tradable right now in the kind of trade you would want to make. Still, having 4 good outfielders is hardly a problem, especially since all three of the non-Reynolds guys get dinged up occasionally. I think what any move would amount to is insurance, with Reynolds starting to get regular starts in CF.
Maybe it positions you to trade Marte for a haul in the offseason, but that's a bold move. Really, though, the market for outfielders has not been too strong, so if we're only going to get marginal value for Dickerson, it may not be worth dealing him. I'm still not quite sure how to look at it. Cabrera can't be counted on for more than an occasional start with everyone healthy, but even so, if Polanco is fully rehabbed, I don't see how a time share will happen. Reynolds has proven himself to be so good that I think you have to just staple him and Marte together at the heart of the order.
Still, I guess it's better to have this problem than not. I don't expect Hurdle to make any substantial changes while the team continues to win. And although I don't have my hopes up about tonight, it could be a key game, in that it would really give us some huge momentum if we pulled off a win, and put Milwaukee really back on their heels. I hope the offense can resurface in a big way.
Oh, and I have been meaning to say this since the other day, but it would certainly be nice to see Reynolds catch even more fire for this final week before the ASB to really put an exclamation point on his campaign for a possible spot on the team. Doubt it happens for him, but if it has the side benefit of torturing the Brewers and Cubs for a week, I'm not really sure I'll care about the game at all.
