Back in November, a person could do anything with their offseason mock roster. A six-team swap to get the Giants a starting shortstop? Sure. Barry Zito to the Mariners for one of their top prospects? Not plausible, but mock rosters rarely are. The point of the mock roster isn't to be realistic; it's to say "Loooookitme! I could totally run this team and junk!" It's our right - nay, our duty - as baseball fans to flood the interwebs with this crap. And, yes, I'm painfully aware that I'm the guiltiest party of all.
In January, though, there isn't that much freedom. Most of the free agents have been picked over. A team that needed a starter in the fall might have already made their trade. The mock roster loses a lot of its appeal.
So instead of doing a crazy mock roster - Jonathan Sanchez to the Orioles for Edwin Encarnacion, after a blockbuster Erik Bedard deal goes down, for example - I'll do two simple Opening Day lineups:
Eugenio Velez - 2B
Kevin Frandsen - 3B
Aaron Rowand - CF
Bengie Molina - C
Randy Winn - RF
Nate Schierholtz - LF
Anyone but Ortmeier or Aurilia - 1B
Omar Vizquel - SS
Dave Roberts - LF
Omar Vizquel - SS
Aaron Rowand - CF
Pedro Feliz - 3B
Randy Winn - RF
Bengie Molina - C
Rich Aurilia - 1B
Ray Durham - 2B
Now it's your turn. Predict the starting lineup on Opening Day. Contrast it with what you'd like to see on Opening Day. Get really discouraged. Visit the Sabercats home page. Print out a schedule. Cry a little. Take out your anger and disillusionment on undeserving people at inappropriate times.
But start with the Opening Day roster predictions.