Gordon may hit 3rd, Butler to DH

Dick Kaegal is reporting that Alex Gordon will be batting in the three spot this year. This would move Gload to sixth or seventh, depending on where Trey bats Mark Teahen. Teahen, by the way, is still in the mix to bat third because of his strong spring performance.

"But it's possible, it's possible for [Gordon] to be the No. 3 guy," Hillman said. "Mark's hit there as well. I like what Alex has done. He's probably been a little bit more consistent as far as his plate appearances. We'll continue to evaluate that as we move on."

I think either Gordon or Billy Butler should bat third with the other batting fifth. At least this foolish talk of Gload batting third is over with.

This kind of concerns me though:

Hillman cautions that there's a balancing act with OBP. It's a good thing unless it a player lets it diminish his aggressiveness.
"I don't ever want an Alex Gordon to ever be afraid to come out of his shoes on hitting counts," Hillman said.
"Sometimes, guys can take the on-base percentage to the nth degree and miss pitches that they can drive into the gap."

And sometimes they swing at bad pitches because they get too aggressive. Gordon should be okay though so I won't make a big deal out of this.

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Billy Butler will spend most of his time as the designated hitter once the season starts.

So says Trey Hillman, Bob Dutton writes about this and trade rumors involving Esteban German and Angel Berroa. I hope this paves the way for Ryan Shealy to make the team because if not then Ross Gload is gonna get 500 plate appearances this year. Shealy may reap the benefit of the possible trade of German to the Dodgers.

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Blown Save is reviewing the AL Central position by position.

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Rany has a nice article up about Billy Butler.