There is an old adage that states a good baseball team has defense up the middle and powers on the corners. It is another way of describing a balanced team in a non-sabermetric way.
On the power side, one's best home run hitters are usually RF and 1B. Next would be 3B. Then LF, and if you have one, a catcher. Four of one's regular fielders should have consistent home run power.
On the defensive side, your best defenders should be your C, SS, CF (for all the ground to cover) and 2B (to turn the double play). Your shortstop, center fielder and/or second basemen would be the fastest guys in the starting lineup, with the most "steal" potential. You want your best base stealer to lead off, which usually is a SS, CF or 2B.
You have the speedy defender lead off, and the best contact, average hitter second. Then you go through your RBI man, then all the power hitters in a row until whoever is left over at the end.
So how do the current Cubs roster (still under construction) stack up under the old school blue print?
Power:
RF, DeJesus NO.
1B, LaHair MAYBE
3B, Stewart NO
LF, Soriano, YES.
Defense:
C, Soto, AVERAGE
SS, Castro, INCONSISTENT TO BELOW AVG.
CF, Byrd, AVERAGE
2B, Barney, BELOW AVERAGE
The old school line up would be:
1. Castro, ss
2. Byrd, cf
3. LaHair, 1b
4. Soriano, lf
5. Soto, c
6. DeJesus, rf
7. Stewart, 3b
8. Barney, 2b
