I will be doing an MLB preview of each division as the season starts in less than a month. First up the AL East:
There has
been lots of moving and shaking in the AL East standings in the past couple of
years as the Red Sox have fell dramatically from the top and the Yankees have been
hit with numerous injuries plus the improvement of the Orioles, Rays, and Blue
Jays.
Last year,
the AL East had three teams reach at least 90 wins as the New York Yankees won
the division by two games over the late charging Baltimore Orioles. The Yankees
were lead by the duo of CF Curtis Granderson and 2B Robinson Canó, who combined
for 76 HRs and 200 RBIs. The O’s made the playoffs for the first time since
1997 and defeated the Texas Rangers in the inaugural season of the one game
wild card playoff. The Yankees again got the better of the Orioles as they won
the ALDS in five games. The Yankees would go on to the ALCS where they were swept
by the Detroit Tigers. The Tampa Bay Rays finished in third place in the
division with 90 wins but missed 3B Evan Longoria greatly, as the star only
played in 74 games last season. The Blue Jays finished the season 16 games
under .500 at 73-89 and the Red Sox had their worst season since 1965 as they
fired Bobby Valentine after a disappointing 69-93 2012 campaign.
It was a
busy offseason in the AL East this year as John Farrell left his managerial
positional with the Blue Jays and was hired as coach of the Red Sox, where he
was the Sox pitching coach from 2006-2010. The Red Sox also signed OF Shane
Victorino and C/1B Mike Napoli to help boost their offense that was plagued by
injuries to OF Jacoby Ellsbury and DH David Ortiz last year. Although he had a
down year last year, expect Victorino to contribute nicely in a lineup where he
will fall between Ortiz and co. The Yankees didn’t make a huge splash in free
agency but did add 3B Kevin Youkilis, who could be the starting 3B for the
first half of the season as Alex Rodriguez is not expected back until July as
he rehabs from hip surgery. The Rays did trade SP James Shields to the Kansas
City Royals but acquired OF Wil Myers. Myers has yet to play in a major league
game but is supposedly the real deal and was Baseball America’s Minor League
Player of the Year last year. The Blue
Jays were the recipients of the Miami Marlins dumping their whole team as they
acquired four-time All-Star SS Jose Reyes, P Mark Buehrle, P Josh Johnson, C
John Buck, and CF Emilio Bonifacio on November 20th. They also
acquired OF Melky Cabrera and NL CY Young Winner, R.A. Dickey. With all of
their new pieces, are the Blue Jays the favorites to win the division?
Baltimore Orioles- This team came out
of nowhere last year as Buck Showalter lead the Orioles in his second full
season as coach to the playoffs. All-Star OF Adam Jones led the group with 32
HRs and 85 RBIs last year. The Orioles have a solid outfield with Nate McLouth
in LF, Jones in CF, and Nick Markakis in RF. C Matt Wieters is emerging as one
of the best catchers in the league after hitting 23 HRs and bringing in 83 RBIs
last year. This team likes playing as the underdog as watching Showalter being
interviewed by the guys on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight, he feels that his team
still hasn’t got the respect that they deserve but feels that he can prove the
doubters wrong this year. The Orioles have a solid batting lineup to carry them
in games but I am concerned with their pitching as they don’t have a clear
number #1 starter. That will be crucial coming down the stretch if the Orioles
want to contend for a division title. 
Boston Red Sox- What a horrendous
season the Red Sox had last year. Their worst record since 1965 as Bobby
Valentine had problems controlling the team and blasted the organization in one
of his last news conferences before being fired. But now, John Farrell has the
task of bringing the team back together that used to be one of the best in the
American League. I really like the signings of Victorino and Napoli as both are
All-Stars when they are on but both had off seasons last year. The Red Sox are
going to need Ellsbury to stay healthy if they want to contend in the division
but there is also a big question surrounding David Ortiz’s production as last
year was his worst year as a Red Sox. Ortiz is at the tail end of his career
but can he come out this season and produce or will the Sox bench him? P Ryan
Dempster is a solid #3 starter for the Red Sox who have Lester and Buchholz as
their #1 and #2 starters. Newly acquired CP Joel Hanrahan is also a two-time
All-Star.
New York Yankees- When healthy, the
Yankees are one of the best teams in the MLB. But the health of the whole team
will be a big question heading into this season. This last week has not been
good for the Yankees as CF Curtis Granderson suffered a broken forearm on a hit
by pitch and 1B Mark Teixeira strained his right wrist during Team USA’s
batting practice on Tuesday and will now be out for 8-10 weeks. The team is
also without 3B Alex Rodriguez until mid-July as he recovers from left hip
surgery. SS Derek Jeter is coming off of ankle surgery and CP Mariano Rivera is
still not healthy after tearing his ACL shagging fly balls in a game last year.
It will be very tough for the Yankees to hang in the division without three of
their stars for sure and the status of others uncertain, but they do have 2B
Robinson Cano coming off of a stellar season. The Yankees are the Yankees but
are they good at all without some of their key pieces.
Tampa Bay Rays- The Rays lost a big
piece of their rotation when they traded P James Shields to Royals. Shields had
87 wins in 7 seasons with the Rays and made his first career All-Star
appearance in 2011. Without him, the youngster duo of P Jeremy Hellickson and
Matt Moore are expected to see an increased role. Both of them are entering
their third year in the league. But the Rays do have David Price. Price had his
best season of his career last year as he won the AL CY Young Award and tied
for the AL lead in wins with 20. The Rays offense will be the issue if they
want to improve on their 90 wins from last year. The Rays lost CF BJ Upton, who
went to the Atlanta Braves. Entering this season, the Rays finally have 3B Evan
Longoria healthy. He will have to carry this team if they want to make the
playoffs this year. 
Toronto Blue Jays- The last time the
Toronto Blue Jays made the playoffs was 1993. This year the Jays have a real
shot at winning the division as they made some big trades in the offseason to
acquire SS Jose Reyes, P R.A. Dickey, P Josh Johnson, and OF Melky Cabrera
among others. This team has talent there is no doubt about it but can they the
chemistry going with so many new guys. The Blue Jays 1-4 spots in their lineup
might be the best in the AL with Reyes, Cabrera, OF Jose Bautista, and 1B Edwin
Encarnacion. Encarnacion had 42 HRs and 110 RBIs last year while Bautista was
plagued by injuries but did hit 27 HRs in 92 games. The Jays rotation has the
talent but some of the guys are coming off of bad years. If P Mark Buehrle,
Johnson, and Ricky Romero can each win 15 games, the Jays could run away with
the division.
Prediction- I think that this is a
two-team race between the Orioles and the Blue Jays. This division will not be
decided until late into September but I think that the Jays will edge out the
Orioles and win the division. The Orioles will make the playoffs as a wild
card.
1.
Toronto Blue Jays
2.
Baltimore Orioles
3.
New York Yankees
4.
Boston Red Sox
5.
Tampa Bay Rays
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