The AL East is always an intriguing division. While the Baltimore Orioles are far from being competitive, every other team in the division has the chance to win a title this season.
Of course, with the MLB in a lockout, it’s hard to project which teams are going to be at the top. The Yankees have a lot of work to do once the lockout is over.
But essentially, we know that the Yankees will do at least something to help build their team. The Yankees will be in on Carlos Correa and maybe even Freddie Freeman. Either way, the team will be better than it is right now.
New York finished the regular season at 92-70, made the playoffs, and of course, didn’t go on to win the World Series. This has been a common theme with the Yankees, who are always good enough in the regular season but struggle to find much momentum later on.
The Yankees need more starting pitching depth and will likely want to add another big bat to the lineup. In this division, you need to be a complete team. Four teams in the AL East won over 90 games last season.
The Blue Jays finished with 91 wins and didn’t make the postseason. Toronto had a run differential of +183 while the Yankees had a +42 run differential. But that didn’t matter once the Yankees had one more win in the standings when the regular season was over.
The Blue Jays won’t have ace pitcher Robbie Ray or Marcus Semien anymore, as he has both left the team for other big contracts elsewhere. But overall, the Blue Jays have done a solid job building this team and will be contenders next year as long as new pieces are added.
Last season, the Boston Red Sox were the surprise team of the division. The Red Sox won 92 games and scored 829 runs. Boston showed legitimate depth throughout the year and has plenty of young players that are developing into stars.
Power hitter Kyle Schwarber likely won’t be back for the Red Sox, but I’m sure the Red Sox will fill that void with another big power bat that they can find in Free Agency. They’re always looking for talent and are never afraid to make a big move to help the organization.
Lastly, the Tampa Bay Rays finished the AL East on top, winning 100 games. The Rays are the most exciting team in baseball. The Rays continue to develop young talent so easily and have just signed Wander Franco to a long extension at such a young age. They had two players that were Rookie of the Year finalists and one player in Randy Arozarena who won the award.
The Rays overuse their bullpen, so they’ll need to get more bullpen help, but overall, the Rays aren’t going anywhere. Alright, maybe they’re going to leave Tampa Bay, but when it comes to standings, the Rays won’t be leaving.
Therefore, I’ve got the Rays winning the AL East again. But it’s always a tight race between all of these teams and should be exciting as we get closer to postseason play this season.
Calculators
