I reject the assumption.  Bautista should be the Jays' cleanup hitter in 2011.  Any other choice would be (by far) a suboptimal lineup choice.  It's the one spot in the order where it is pretty much essential to have a hitter who gets on base and hits for power, and Bautista is the only player in the lineup with both these qualities. 

Fair enough. I meant to ask who should bat behind Bautista, for intimidation and two-run homer purposes.

Lineup studies have usually shown the #4 spot to be less important than the other top 5, if I recall correctly. They come up with the bases empty a lot...of course, managers have been pissing away the #2 spot for 100 years (not always, but a lot of #2 hitters are still not very good hitters), I'm more worried about who hits there, and it will help form my opinion of the new manager...

 I voted for Lind, because he's a hitter the Jays need to be good this year after the stinkbomb last year. He should be the #4 hitter, because he should be the best hitter on the team, non-Bautista division, and cleanup spot is the reward. To my eye, the Jays have a lot of #5-#6 type guys, just like last year.

Lineup studies have usually shown the #4 spot to be less important than the other top 5, if I recall correctly.

On the other hand, my memory seems to recall that the 3 spot is the least important [according to The Book].

I agree, Bautista should be #4. I also voted for Lind because if Bautista had to be #3, I would want the power/LH after him.

The #3 spot is very overrated. As said in 'The Book', no spot in the line-up comes up with 2-out, nobody on then the #3 spot... which is the least effective batting position.

They say the 1-2-4 spots should be your best hitters (overall).

 

#3 might be a good spot for Snider. David/Hill/Snider/Bautista/Lind... though that is assuming a bounceback for Hill.

Snider and Lind would have pretty similar expectations.  I'd bat Snider second and Lind fifth behind Bautista.  Hill bats third. 

Check that.  Encarnacion bats third. 

It's becoming ever more apparent that I like Escobar more than most. If we were placing bets on who will lead the Jays in OBP this year I'd pick him (and Bautista is the only one I'd consider a serious challenger). I would plan to bat Escobar 2nd.

I like Escobar too.  I would lead him off and hit Davis 9th. 

I agree with Tim about the 3-4-5 spots being Snider-Jose-Lind but I voted for a different batter vs. RH and LH behind Bautista. The 20-25 per cent of the time the Jays face a LH starter, I would bat Hill or EE behind Bautista. Davis leading off, Escobar second.

I voted for EE in the 4th spot. He has experience & talent as a power hitter.

IMO everyone has something to prove this year.
Can J Bautista repeat.
Hill & Lind bounce back.
Rookie JPA & Youngster T Snider get to the next level.
EE finally healthy.
Newish Y Escobar & new J Rivera & R Davis show off their stuff to their new team & fans. J Rivera has a clean slate & is playing for a 2012 contract, I believe he was hurt about 2 years ago.
Some AAA guys can smell the nearness of the Majors as well.