When Bobby Valentine managed the New York Mets, he would speak about the process of structuring a lineup, of writing down ideas during a given day and mulling over how the pieces could fit together.

At that time, Valentine was very progressive in his thinking, fully recognizing the value and importance of on-base percentage but also understanding the solution one day wasn't necessarily the best solution the next day, against a different pitcher, under different circumstances. Valentine was willing to shake things up, and he tried to get the players to evolve past the idea that they needed to hit in the same spot in the batting order every single day.

So the lineups that Detroit Tigers manager Brad Ausmus or Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch would draw up today might not be the lineups they would necessarily use at the outset of the 2016 postseason, or even Opening Day.

But the lineup puzzles that each set of players presents are fun to mull over (especially if you're still digging out from an epic snowstorm). Below are some of the questions -- and possible solutions -- for a handful of teams.

A few thoughts before diving into those:

A. I've always subscribed to the basic principle that a manager should stack up his best hitters at the very top of the lineup, to give those players the best chance to get an extra at-bat at the end of a game. For instance, I'd rather hit Mike Trout leadoff than in the cleanup spot. Even when Barry Bonds was in his prime, I'd have batted him leadoff before batting him in the No. 4 spot, to increase the chances he gets an extra plate appearance.

B. With the increased use of relievers for matchups, the balance of right- and left-handed hitters seems more important than ever, to give opposing bullpens different looks and challenges as managers navigate through lineups.

C. Generally speaking, on-base percentage should be the most important factor in building a lineup, although Alcides Escobar certainly provided a counter example during the postseason, when he led off and thrived, scoring 13 runs in 16 games -- while not drawing a single walk in 77 plate appearances. Escobar has 147 plate appearances over the past two postseasons and has one walk and 21 strikeouts, yet he set the tables for a Royals team that almost won the World Series in 2014 and did win it in 2015.

With that said, here are some interesting lineup quandaries for 2016:

1. What should the Chicago Cubs do at the top of their order?

Manager Joe Maddon changes his lineup constantly and he does have a lot of interesting platoon choices, thanks in part to Ben Zobrist's excellence against left-handed pitching (.926 OPS in 2015) and Kyle Schwarber's power and patience against right-handers (.953 OPS).

Unless the Cubs re-sign Dexter Fowler to play center field and serve as their leadoff hitter, I'd go this way against right-handers:

1. Schwarber

2. Zobrist

3. Anthony Rizzo

4. Kris Bryant

5. Jason Heyward

And against lefties, I'd go:

1. Zobrist

2. Bryant

3. Rizzo

2. Where should Justin Upton bat in the Detroit Tigers' lineup?

The other day, Ausmus indicated there are three spots in consideration for Upton to hit in: second, fifth or sixth.