What will the Yankees' lineup be for Opening Day?

There's been a lot of research done to show that lineups don't really matter except in extreme cases, or to win a few extra runs over the course of a season, or that the true optimization is so far from what's being done that it's screaming into the void to try to change it.

But I know position in the lineup is important to the players, important to a large segment of fans, and important to the managers. Look at the reactions in the clubhouse when a manager drops a struggling star to a lower spot in the order, as Joe Torre did to Alex Rodriguez in the 2006 ALDS. Look at all the attention Jacoby Ellsbury received in 2014 when he became the Yankees #3 of necessity as injuries and ineffectiveness took down Mark Teixeira, Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran.

So what makes a good lineup? For me, I want to stack OBP at the top of the lineup. I want to break up the righties and lefties, especially if the other team has a shutdown reliever in the pen, so that a late inning matchup can't wipe out an inning. I don't care about whether the speed is clumped together or spread out; the odds of a speedy guy being on first with a slow guy on second are pretty minimal, and at that point, I'm hoping for a big inning anyway. Ideally though, the guys behind the speedy guy will have at least enough foot speed to execute the backend of a double steal.

The other thing I really like a lineup to be is consistent. Not the Joe Torre/Pop Fisher consistent where Miguel Cairo bats second because he's subbing in for Derek Jeter that day. But ideally the team has a righties lineup and a lefties lineup, and then subs go towards the bottom and most everyone shifts up one. Knowing that ball players are creatures of habit, I think a manager's #1 responsibility is to get out of the way of the talent.

So, against righties:

#7 GGBG L .256/.327/.422 LF

#5 Headley S .257/.343/.412 3B

#8 Ellsbury L .271/.329/.418 CF

#9 Beltran S .260/.324/.438 RF

#1 Jones L .250/.311/.448

#2 McCann L .251/.317/.445 C

#3 Tex S .223/.314/.414 1B

#6 Gregorius L .241/.302/.357

#4 Drew L .221/.297/.364

That's a lot of left-handed bats, and with Jon Lester and David Price out of the division, I feel pretty good about that. In this scenario, I need A-Rod, Chris Young and Refsnyder/Pirela to hit enough to be available off the bench when the lefty reliever comes in to chew threw the bottom of this order (rolling over into the two lefties back at the top).

Against lefties:

#8 Ellsbury L .271/.329/.418 CF

#5 Headley S .257/.343/.412 3B

#3 Tex S .223/.314/.414 1B

#9 Beltran S .260/.324/.438 RF

#1 A-Rod R .235/.317/.382

#2 McCann L .251/.317/.445 C

#6 Gregorius L .241/.302/.357

#4 Jose Pirela R .250/.297/.373

#7 GGBG L .256/.327/.422 LF

Obviously, I'm working with the Steamer projections, which don't offer splits, but we know that most of the team at this point shows some significant platoon splits. Tex, for instance, hits for better power against righties, but at a significant cost to his OBP. So I'm moving him up the order against lefties, where he'll get on base at closer to a .330 clip. Meanwhile Ellsbury looks like a world beater against lefties (a reverse platoon), while Gardner did all of his damage against righties, so in this lineup, I moved GGBG down to the #9 spot (not that he's worse than the others, but I know batting order really only matters the first time through the lineup).

What do you think Joe Girardi will roll out to start the season? Does this lefty heavy lineup make you wish for another right-handed hitter before the season starts?