[Drstrangelove]

Not sure if this is where you're going, but...

There are many theories on batting orders, and tbh, people have often taken the position that it doesn't often matter or if it does, it doesn't matter much. (Bill James concluded as such about 25 years ago and I defer to him on such issues...)

However, hypocritical as it is, I still like to make up my own lineups, since it's a game and no one's wealth is on the line.

I sort players using OPS+ and wRC+ based upon LH or RH pitching and I create my lineup to place the top 5 in the first 5 spots, with the higher OBP players at front, higher ISO in the rear, with faster players in front of slower players. (It isn't as complicated as it sounds with just 5 guys, and as James wrote, it hardly matters if you have the best guys hitting anyways.)

The last 4 lineups spots are spread so the fastest are at the end, and the highest ISO in the front.

Many, many other ways of doing it and I doubt it matters much over the course of the season so long as your best players are there.

What you don't have here is defense. It rarely makes sense to put a catcher at SS, or in center field, even if he does hit a lot better than the current guy, but some catchers (Bench, Berra) have played LF and 3B; many more have played 1B.

So there's the rub: the balancing act takes lots of understanding about where you can "get away" with a low-defense, high offense player. OOTP helps by giving you signals (red is bad) for using a player in a position. The balancing act comes in knowing that a player will cost you defensively but make up for it offensively, or vice versa. The most important defensive positions (SS, CF, C, 2B), can get away with mediocre offense and great defense, while the least important (DH, 1B, LF) should have good offense. (RF, 3B, over baseball history have supported both types of players.)