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So as to not offend anyone today, I will only quote what Olney tweeted himself: Over the last two seasons, in Class A and AA, Jurickson Profar has 104 extra-base hits, 131 walks and 142 strikeouts. Pedroia-like numbers.

He mentions that RBIA in Arlington tends to help offenses "thrive".

In case anyone is curious, he has the Angels at #1.

I wonder if at some point Profar with his plate discipline moves Kinsler out of the leadoff spot. Maybe Kinsler and his power are better suited to the meat of the order, like say the 6th spot.

Off the top of my head, I think LAD, NYY, TOR, LAA, and DET all have better offenses than we do. If we add Berkman and Upton, I think that changes things a bit.

The Angels offense is overrated. Pujols is declining, Trumbo is a Chris Davis-type with a slightly better hit tool, Howie Kendrick is light-hitting, their SS/3B positions give you basically nothing, etc. Age-32 Hamilton/age-33 Pujols are not the same as they were when they were 27 or 28; their offense has plateaued. I think it's a liberal projection to say they are the best.

Detroit, on the other hand, can roll with a top-5 featuring Jackson/Hunter/Cabrera/Fielder/Martinez. That's as good as it gets.

@Kristen: I'd love to see something like that, with Kinsler 5th and Cruz 6th. Maybe a Lineup of:

Profar
Andrus
Murphy
Beltre
Kinsler
Cruz
AJP
Moreland
Gentry/Martin

@eric: I was surprised the Tiger's didn't make the top 10 (though they did get sort of an honorable mention to the honorable mentions section, if that makes sense).

I think Kinsler needs to move out of the leadoff spot regardless. After 2012 I think I'd rather see someone else lead off, and let him hit in the middle of the order.

Wash would probably never do this, but I'd let Murphy lead off. He led the team in OBP last year, and that's what I want most. It should be his spot to lose if he regresses (which a lot of people think is inevitable, I know.) Short of that, I'd like to see Gentry or Elvis lead off. Also, Profar seems to project as a leadoff hitter, though I doubt he'd get the job on opening day.

I didn't hear why Wash decided to make Ian leadoff a couple years ago, but I hope he's open to changing his mind again.

@Eric, I hate to nitpick, but the Angels DO have this guy named Trout you may have heard of...

I agree the LAAA have plateaued offensively and that their guys will likely not produce at a higher clip than last year, but adding Hamilton (although a TERRIBLE long term investment) does give them the guy that has MP caliber potential as we saw early last year, Pujols, who has a respectable second half last year, and Trumbo who, like you said, is solid even if a little uninspiring.

While I would be upset at them being ranked #1 NEXT season, I can certainly see Olney's rationale. Just remember, they were ranked #1 this time last year, too, as was Boston 2 years ago, and we saw how both of those turned out in the end.

I wonder if Wash will let a pony bat leadoff.

I'd like to see Elvis and Kinsler flip. Give Elvis a chance to get on 1B and steal 2nd and not waste an ab bunting. Will be interesting to see if Elvis gets more stolen bases this year not batting in front of Hamilton who refused to take a pitch and let the runner have a chance at stealing 2nd. If Elvis batted in the leadoff I'd bet on him getting 40-50 SB's.

Seventy8 - It dont matter who the heck Elvis hits in front of, he will get at least 30+ steals. I cant remember how many years he didnt hit in front Ham, but he consistently got 30+(I have no idea how he got 30+ in 2011 in front of Ham), but everytime this year Ham came up to hit with Elvis on first(besides in Baltimore in May), I was screaming just go on the first pitch. Ham killed his stolen bases. But particularly in front of Ian he would get 6 pitches everytime to steal on, so 40-50 seems reasonable. Decent thought.