Rays Athletics Even if Boston fans could accept the need/desire to trade him away, anything short of acquiring Mike Trout was going to feel like a letdown. ... MLB Daily Lineups. Red Sox Ryan Braun—set to turn 37 in November—is a far cry from his vintage (PED-boosted) numbers, too. But just to be on the safe side, Minnesota also snagged Josh Donaldson on a four-year, $92 million deal after the 2015 AL MVP hit 37 home runs for the Braves in 2019. 2020 MLB Team Previews: Scouting, Projected Lineups, Season Predictions By Athlon Sports , 2/28/20, 12:30 PM EST Previewing all 30 teams to get you ready for the 2020 season
David Dahl is a solid leadoff hitter with a career .297 average, and Daniel Murphy and Ryan McMahon are dangerous enough at No.
On July 10, MLB.com posted projected starting lineups for all 30 teams. But Betts was the 2018 AL MVP who finished top-eight in that vote in each of the past four seasons. Philadelphia has a great 2-5, but there are some much better 1-9s out there.Beyond that, though, who knows? DFS Tools. This Pitcher is not starting but will pitch multiple innings after the starter. Check out where players are likely to hit in the batting order -- including injured A.J. Diamondbacks And while Jurickson Profar has hit 20 home runs in each of the past two seasons, mediocre fielding and a rough career batting average leave something to be desired, even for a guy projected to bat seventh.However, Albert Pujols has been on the back nine of his career for several years now, and Justin Upton (.215 average while dealing with toe and knee injuries in 2019) may have joined him on that trajectory. And with Kingery presumably manning second base, can Roman Quinn or Adam Haseley handle the center field gig? And Sean Murphy has just 60 career plate appearances at the MLB level. Hunter Renfroe (85 HR with San Diego since start of 2017) is at least a known commodity in the middle of the lineup. They might quickly blossom, or they might flounder. But with Mancini on the shelf and with Jonathan Villar (.274 AVG, 24 HR, 40 SB in 2019) now playing in Miami, this lineup is an extra hot mess. Rangers Neither Odor (.240) nor Frazier (.243) is much better. Tampa Bay may be in some trouble if he doesn't.Regardless of where Villar lands in the field, though, it's his bat and his speed that make him the star of this lineup. Eric Hosmer and Wil Myers were wildly touted prospects once upon a time, but they've been nothing close to All-Star-level in the past two years. Oscar Mercado and Franmil Reyes aren't quite there yet, but that could change in a hurry.The former batted .269 with 15 home runs and 15 stolen bases as a rookie last year. That's a combined 81 home runs from last season, plus they're calling up super prospect Luis Robert, who had 32 home runs and 36 stolen bases across all levels of the minor leagues last year. If the Angels weren't paying those two guys like $1 billion per season, maybe they could find room for all of Tommy La Stella, David Fletcher and Andrelton Simmons in the starting lineup.But how will Andrew McCutchen look 13 months after suffering a torn ACL? White Sox Pollock's likely replacement -- and where pitchers are likely to be slotted in the rotation for each team. And Choo turned 38 earlier this month, so he's got to be nearing the end of the line. POSTPONED Cardinals Better to have nine starters each hit a dozen home runs than have those 108 dingers confined to half the lineup while the other half is barely even a threat to go yard.If that doesn't make sense yet, hopefully it will by the time you start encountering guys like Mike Trout and Pete Alonso outside our top 10.The Orioles likely would have ranked in the bottom three even if their best slugger was healthy. Santana had just a .256 OBP from 2015-18. If the latter, the rest of this lineup isn't strong enough to pick up the pieces.At least Josh Bell is quite the anchor in the middle of the lineup. After seven straight years finishing below .500, the ChiSox might be prepping to bash their way to the postseason.It's unclear if or when Yordan Alvarez will be available (unidentified absence from camp for nearly three weeks), but not having the 23-year-old, who hit .313 with 27 home runs in 87 games last year, does keep Houston from making a great case for the No. Try it on FanDuel! Buster Posey's decision to opt out of the 2020 season didn't help matters, either.Acquiring C.J. (Belt and Pence both have a foot injury; Longoria is dealing with a sore oblique.) Bichette (.311) was excellent in his 46 games played last year, but Biggio, Teoscar Hernandez, Randal Grichuk, Rowdy Tellez and Danny Jansen all hit below .235 in 2019. Rockies Don't be surprised if he draws a lot of intentional walks, though, given how weak the back half of this lineup looks.The Rays also lost Tommy Pham (21 HR) and Avisail Garcia (20 HR) from last year's roster, so this outfield looks a lot different.