The American League East has been a two horse race for as long as I can remember but I think this year it becomes three-team battle. The Toronto Blue Jays are as talented as most teams in the league and if they can stay healthy they can definitely contend. The Rays and Orioles will again bring up the rear of this division but the top should be a fun and wild ride all year long, beginning with the Yankees-Blue Jays to open the season next week.
The Rays have changed their name this year but I don’t think it will help too much. They do seem to be focusing more on pitching, finally, which is a good thing. The Rays traded one of their most talented players, Delmon Young to the Twins for Matt Garza. The Rays now have three good, young pitchers, with Garza, Kazmir and James Shields. The offense will still be able to score runs with Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena leading the way but their bullpen will be terrible again this year. The Rays should win more games and I could even seeing them finishing 4th this year so maybe the change from Devil Rays to just Rays did help a little bit.
In my mind the Orioles will be terrible this year. They have traded away a lot of their team and have made a move to completely re-build. That is good news for the long term but not this year. The rotation is young and unproven, the line-up is very weak outside of Brian Roberts (who they still may trade away) and the bullpen is, I don’t even know. They were awful last year I don’t see much to think they will be any different this year. This is going to be a very long season in Baltimore and I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the worst team in baseball this season.
The Blue Jays must stay healthy. That’s Scott Rolen coming back from his broken finger soon, AJ Burnett staying on the hill and throwing 200 innings, Roy Halladay makes at least 33 starts, Vernon Wells stays on the field and bounces back from last year and it mostly means BJ Ryan gets back soon and re-gains his dominant form at the back end of the bullpen. This line-up can hit, this rotation is very solid and the bullpen is deep and very good. If this team keeps their players on the field they can be dangerous and the Yankees and Red Sox know that.
Speaking of the Yankees, it’s funny how people all across the country want to forget what the Yankees have done over the last 13 years. Just because they didn’t make the trade for Johan Santana does not mean they can’t make the playoffs. They still have the best offense in the league (sorry Tiger fans, your line-up needs to prove something first, this team scored almost 1000 runs last year). The Yankees bring back a very solid rotation that is plenty good enough to win games with this offense. Let’s not forget Wang leads the MLB in wins over the last two seasons. Their bullpen is better this year as well because they have decided to put Joba in bullpen to begin the year. Kyle Farnsworth and LaTroy Hawkins will share the 7th inning and they have some young arms fighting for middle relief innings. Just because this team hasn’t won a World Series in seven years and they didn’t make the trade for the best pitcher in baseball, let’s not forget they always make the playoffs.
The defending champs are also looking to defend their division title from a year ago. I am a little more worried about this team then most people seem to be. With Schilling out for who knows how long their rotation looks very thin. I wonder why people question Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy in New York but they seem to believe Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz will be stars this year. Josh Beckett needs to get back as soon as he can because I am not sold on this rotation even with him in it. The offense will be fine, Manny and Drew will have much better seasons but I think they will need that because I don’t think their starting rotation or bullpen will be as good as it was last year. I know they are the defending champs but I am not as high on this team as everyone else seems to be.
Predictions-
Best Newcomer: LaTroy Hawkins. He may not be the best player that is new to the division but he is the most important.
Best Manager: Terry Francona, you can’t argue with his two titles in four years.
Most Important Player: The health of the starting rotations. AJ Burnett and Roy Halladay for the Jays. Pettitte and Wang for the Yanks. Beckett and Dice-K for the Sox. Who can stay healthy?
Cy Young: Doc Halladay is going to stay healthy and be great.
MVP: This one is too easy, Alex Rodriguez. If you want to consider this a sleeper, Manny Ramirez is going to have a huge year.
Standings-
- Yankees (94-68)
- Red Sox (92-70)
- Blue Jays (88-74)
- Rays (77-85)
- Orioles (73-89)
I have this weird feeling about injuries catching up with the Red Sox this year. The Sox stayed very healthy all last year and I think it will backfire this year. The Yanks will win this division in a very close race. The Jays will stay competitive all year but just not have enough at the end. I think the Yanks make a trade mid-season to bolster the team and it propels them to the division win. I don’t know if it will matter come October but I do see them winning the division again.
