Opening Day has finally arrived, and teams all around the league are gearing up for another pennant chase in hopes of being crowned this year’s World Series champion. Of course, there’s still another seven months to go before someone raises the Commissioner’s Trophy. Until the playoffs begin, teams will be focused on a smaller goal: winning their division. We have been conducting a series of polls to gauge who MLBTR readers believe is the favorite in each division. That series has already covered the National League, with the Dodgers, Cubs, and Phillies each coming out on top in their respective divisions. In the American League, meanwhile, the Rangers and Tigers have been voted as the favorites to win their respective divisions. The final division left to cover in this series is the AL East. Teams are listed in order of their 2024 record.
New York Yankees (94-68)
The reigning league champion can never be counted out as a contender for their division, and that’s certainly true when it comes to a franchise with as strong of a history as the Yankees. With that being said, it’s difficult to argue the club is better on paper today than it was a year ago. 2024’s club was largely built around the presence of three superstars: Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, and Gerrit Cole. While Judge is still crushing baseballs in the Bronx as reliably as ever, Soto departed for Queens on a massive $765MM pact over the winter while Cole underwent Tommy John surgery last month and will miss the entire 2025 season. The losses of Soto and Cole are a major blow to the club’s lineup and rotation, and the latter has been further dented by injuries suffered by Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil while the former is exacerbated by the absence of Giancarlo Stanton.
That’s not to say the club has no reasons for optimism, however. All of Stanton, Gil, and Schmidt could return at some point during the first half, with Schmidt in particular likely to be back in the rotation later this month. The addition of star southpaw Max Fried offers the club a suitable stand-in ace for Cole this season even after a somewhat middling debut in pinstripes, while an offensive nucleus of Judge, Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. should score plenty of runs even without Soto, especially if Goldschmidt can turn back the clock during his age-37 season. That’s before even mentioning their elite bullpen, which was top three in the AL last year even before this winter’s upgrade from Clay Holmes to Devin Williams in the ninth inning. Even with the loss of Soto and their many early season injuries, the Yankees cannot be ruled out to repeat at the top of the division.
Baltimore Orioles (91-71)
After a second consecutive playoff appearance with zero wins to show for it, some fans in Baltimore are starting to get antsy. New owner David Rubenstein’s first offseason at the helm of the club came with big expectations that the club would step away from the frugality of recent years and commit more strongly to contention, and in some ways that did happen. The club replaced Anthony Santander’s power in the lineup by bringing in Tyler O’Neill on the first multi-year guarantee the club has made since Mike Elias took over baseball operations, and went about upgrading an already-strong offense in other ways by bringing in Gary Sanchez and Ramon Laureano. Considering the Orioles already have a phenomenal offensive nucleus built around players like Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Jordan Westburg, and Colton Cowser, those upgrades should give them among the most fearsome lineups in the sport.
That aggressiveness in bolstering the offense was not matched on the pitching side of things, however. Staff ace Corbin Burnes was allowed to depart for Arizona, and his replacements in the rotation are a pair of aging veterans in Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano. While both are decorated pitchers who could offer strong mid-rotation production, the loss of Burnes puts a great deal of pressure on Zach Eflin and Grayson Rodriguez (the latter of whom is currently on the injured list) to perform in front-of-the-rotation roles. The possible return of Kyle Bradish later this season from UCL surgery should help things, but even that would come with question marks due to a year-long layoff. The bullpen is in better shape, fortunately, with closer Felix Bautista back from his own UCL surgery and Yennier Cano, Gregory Soto, and Seranthony Dominguez among the other late inning options. If the club’s rotation can hold up and avoid further injuries, the Orioles should have as good of a shot as anyone at the AL East crown this year.
Boston Red Sox (81-81)
The AL East club with by far the biggest offseason, the Red Sox made significant splashes this winter when they traded for (and, more recently, extended) ace southpaw Garrett Crochet before bringing in third baseman Alex Bregman on a three-year, opt-out laden deal. Both of those moves are likely to transform last year’s middling club into true contenders, giving Boston an ace-caliber arm ahead of homegrown mid-rotation pieces like Tanner Houck and Brayan Bello (not to mention offseason signing Walker Buehler) while allowing them to kick Rafael Devers’s lackluster glove off of third base and into a DH role. Those additions build on a solid group of talent already in place, with players like Devers, Triston Casas, and Jarren Duran standing as likely offensive contributors.
Perhaps even more important than this winter’s additions, however, is the impending arrival of the club’s top prospects. Kristian Campbell is already in the majors and emerging as a potential early favorite for the AL Rookie of the Year award, with fellow top prospects Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer also expected to make their big league debuts at some point this year. All three are consensus top-15 prospects in the sport, with Anthony in particular being rated as the sport’s #1 prospect by a number of services. That sort of high-end prospect talent all arriving in the majors simultaneously is quite rare, and affords the club an exceptionally deep positional mix with plenty of potential impact. With that being said, the club does have one potential Achilles’ heel in the bullpen. After relying on an elite tandem of Kenley Jansen and Chris Martin to close out games last year, the Red Sox are now banking on a strong return from nearly two years away from the mound for Liam Hendriks and a resurgence from Aroldis Chapman in the late innings. If the club’s strong offense and solid rotation can overcome that questionable bullpen, however, they should be in strong position to return to the top of the AL East.
Tampa Bay Rays (80-82)
After suffering their first losing season in recent memory and selling at the trade deadline last year, the Rays avoided their annual winter of sell-side trades (the Jeffrey Springs deal notwithstanding) and actually made a handful of modest but potentially impactful additions this winter. Arguably the club’s two biggest weaknesses last season were catcher and shortstop, so the additions of Danny Jansen and Ha-Seong Kim figure to go a long way to bring up the floor for the club as they try to get back on track. Jansen and Kim (when the latter returns from the IL) figure to be joined this year by the Rays’ usual suspects on offense with Yandy Diaz, Brandon Lowe, and trendy breakout pick Junior Caminero set to serve as anchors of the lineup. Outside of those names, however, the Rays are likely to need big performances from less established pieces like Christopher Morel and Jonathan Aranda in order to make noise in a crowded AL East.
Fortunately, whatever questions the Rays face on offense are largely avoided on the pitching side of things. The temporary loss of ace Shane McClanahan to open the season hurts the rotation, but the club still features a bevy of solid arms that includes Drew Rasmussen, Ryan Pepiot, Taj Bradley, Zack Littell, and Shane Baz. Each of those arms have the upside of at least a #4 starter, and Rasmussen in particular has flashed the sort of production that could front a rotation over the years. In the bullpen, meanwhile, the club will once again rely on Pete Fairbanks in the ninth inning with a group of interesting arms including Edwin Uceta and Hunter Bigge also in their bullpen mix. If the club’s offense can get going, it’s not hard to imagine that pitching talent carrying the Rays back into the playoffs this year.
Toronto Blue Jays (74-88)
The Blue Jays failed in their offseason bid for Juan Soto, and similarly have seemingly come up short in their efforts to extend Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ahead of his final season of club control. That puts plenty of pressure on the Jays to return from the basement of the AL East and compete in what could be their superstar’s last season in town, and Toronto brass answered that pressure by bringing in some notable reinforcements this winter. Anthony Santander offers the sort of big bat to protect Guerrero in the lineup that the Jays lacked last year, Andres Gimenez should greatly improve the club’s defense, Jeff Hoffman looks like a strong replacement for Jordan Romano in the ninth inning, and Max Scherzer (when he returns from the IL) should offer quality innings to a rotation that lost Yusei Kikuchi last summer.
Even with solid additions like those, however, a lot needs to go right for the Jays if they’re going to get to the top of the AL East this year. Perhaps the most important would be a return to form for Bo Bichette, who endured the worst season of his career last year. A lineup featuring Bichette at his best alongside Guerrero and Santander would go a long way to making this club look like a playoff team, as would a resurgence from veteran righty Kevin Gausman, who took a step back from his previous ace-level seasons with the Blue Jays last year. A strong year on offense from franchise catcher Alejandro Kirk and a repeat of Bowden Francis’s excellent rookie campaign could also serve as X-factors that help the club stay competitive this year.
__________________________________________
With all five clubs making a legitimate effort to compete this year, who will come out on top? Will the Yankees reign supreme once again despite their losses, or will they be successfully challenged by the young, up-and-coming Orioles despite a middling rotation? Can the Red Sox ride their splashy signings and top prospects to the postseason, or will a team like the Rays or even the Blue Jays surprise? Have your say in the poll below:
Garrett Chrochet just shoved it up the O’s hoops last night. But hey, good thing we have Mayo helping in the minors. The window will be closed before we know it. Super frustrating
Actually, holding onto guys like Mayo or Basallo instead of trading them for dubious returns (i.e. Crochet or a single year of Cease) should help keep the window open longer.
The time to win is now. Idc if Mayo turns into a stud. This team probably isn’t winning with the current rotation. You already have super stars on the offense, let’s get some rotation stars. You’re basically wasting years of Gunnar/Adley etc when you trot out the current rotation. Idk. I know you defend the orioles to the end, but I just can’t get behind their lack of aggressive moves.
Os reminding everyone of the 2019-22 blue jays
Dan Duquette was aggressive in trading prospects like Josh Hader, Jake Arrieta, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Zach Davies, and it won him exactly 0 championships, but it did succeed in completely wrecking the franchise for half a decade.
Getting Scott Feldman compared to Garrett crochet isn’t quite the same thing
Scott Feldman had a much longer track record of health and success at the time than Garrett Crochet does currently.
And that ignores the main point that gutting the minor leagues for dubious returns is not a recipe for long term success anyway.
Elias would rather trade Connor Norby for Trevor Rogers
Floch – I can’t speak for what he did in Baltimore, but Red Sox Nation and Expos Province are eternally grateful for how much Dan helped those two organizations. Without him the Sox don’t win in 2004 or 2007.
Oh no, not Connor Norby, who has a 98 career OPS+, is below average defensively at every position he’s ever been tried at, and had absolutely no path to any meaningful playing time in Baltimore. How could Elias do this to us?
King, were the Orioles young back then or older and needed all their prospects soon? I don’t remember, but this O’s team is young so they can afford to trade a few for pitching. Especially when the majority of prospects never pan out. They can put Basallo at 1B then package Kjerstad, Mayo and maybe Mountcastle for a top of the rotation starter. Since they seem to be shopping Mountcastle anyway and I can only assume it’s to make room for either Basallo or Mayo at 1B. They should pick which one they like more and create a package that’ll get them an ace. Or maybe even a bigger, 3 team deal where they get back 2 #2’s or something.
Funny part is the story says the Sox had the biggest impact this off season. I would argue the Yankees had just as big of an off season losing Soto but becoming a more balanced roster. Their injuries are the difference right now
Fever—correct. Theo Epstein gets wayyyy too much credit for the ‘04 team. Duquette built that team. While I agree with many that Theo made key trades and signings that put the Red Sox over the top, overall that was Duquette’s team.
Not the NYY. lol
True the Rogers trade was a bust but Elias did well to trade for Eflin and Burnes. He needs to do something similar pretty soon or the Os will be leapfrogged by everyone in the division.
@2012 Comsidering Crochet’s injury history I’d wait to pass judgement on this one.
In spirit tho I believe in what you re getting at. Just that particular example I’d say holding Mayo opposed to betting on Crochet’s health was right move.
Now BOS I believe did right thing. Had O’s acquired Crotchet I doubt he’d have a signed extension today.
Chance – Yeah I’ve written extensively about that era in Red Sox history, lots of misconceptions driven by the media who disliked the rigid personality of Duquette and embraced the 28-year-old “wonderkid” despite all that Duquette accomplished plus the fact Theo had just 8 months of Assistant GM experience before being promoted and was still being mentored by Lucky who surrounded Theo with a superteam of experienced executives as well as Bill James.
Even with Ortiz, some people don’t realize that signing happened only because of Pedro ….. who of course was acquired by Duquette.
Duquette was also the first to bring analytics to Boston when he brought Mike Gimbel with him and began to emphasize the value of OBP (hello Jose Offerman) and other things.
.
Look at Belinger putting up Soto numbers. .238 1 HR under 1.000 OPS
And yet their injuries are still nothing compared to the Os. The Os were a vastly superior team last year but nobody can win down 5/6 of their rotation. The only thing keeping the Os from winning the division by several games are their injuries. They’re easily the most talented team in the league. They just can’t get healthy for any stretch of time the past two seasons.
The Os have one of most potentially talented teams in the league. Alot of their talent has proven little or less at MLB level.
As far as proven talent Dodgers and Braves both pretty deep.
@tigers. I can agree on that. I’m convinced Os fans are either dumb or delusional. In 2023 they only got jack flaherty and nearly every fan I talked to in person was acting like it was the best thing ever. They had the best prospect capital and a bottom 5 payroll and the best record in the AL. A recipe to go out and make a move and they get jack flaherty who had a bad year. I think there are deeper issues with this team that include offensive inconsistency, but the fact remains this team has yet to make a statement move, minus Burnes last season (which worked out). I just can’t get over the fans contentment. Any well run organization does not act this way in the Orioles current situation
I’m only defending them not pushing significant chips in for a hand dominated by Crochet. Do I feel they should ve pushed til the got a deal for a different arm? Sure, but I don’t know to what extend they did and if so what the asking prices were . So I can’t pass final jusgement while speculating.
Arrieta wasn’t a prospect he was 3 years in and a career 5.46 ERA pitcher lol. Zach Davies moves the needle for you? Trade was bad but it’s not like Davies was some perennial all star. E-rod netted Andrew Miller who pitched fantastically down the stretch and had a 0.00 ERA in the playoffs. The O’s scored 2 runs in the last 2 games, the offense killed them not the trade of E-Rod. Yeah obviously Sox got more long term value but Miller was good. The Orioles may have traded away some guys but EVERY team does. None of these trades are as bad as Archer for Baz, Glasnow, and Meadows lol. They didn’t wreck the franchise.
Mayo, Kjerstad, McDermott for Alcántara. Thoughts?
FatChance65
Theo Epstein gets wayyyy too much credit for the ‘04 team. Duquette built that team.
===========================
It was Theo’s team. The RS bWAR for Theo’s players was 31.3. DD’s players had a 21.5. And the vast majority of the salaries were also incurred by DD.
@2012 The Sox have thought the time to win was then and now. How else do you explain a reluctance to move guys like Eovaldi, J.D. Martinez et al,? They have improved somewhat, but this isn’t a division winning team. Move veterans at the deadline for pete’s sake and then bring up the kids to play. Stop trying to convince the fans it’s not a rebuild/ money/ reset. We get it. Stop insulting our smarts.
I was tracking my on base percentage back in little league in 3rd grade, that was in the 60’s. Buying the APBA baseball game starting with the 1967 cards made me more tuned to the value of getting on base as well as defense ratings, players and teams. Also, all the possible baserunners situations. Great game.
Two of those guys are aging. Mayo is young, but has a lot of Ks on his resume.
Who????
“Exactly”
Definitely not Crochet. And who is tough to answer as it could be any SP depending on what the asking price is.
I just don’t think the O’s would ve extended Crochet so they’d have assumed a lot of risk and gave up a ton of prospect capital for a rental.
orioles – Yes Crochet was on last night, but in all fairness no Cowser or Gunnar.
Hate to say it though, but last night you saw The Real O’Neill ….. and normally he eats up LHP.
Gunnar is hurt. Cowser is hurt. We’re going to lose some games vs LHP when those guys are out and we’re sitting Holliday/mullins/ohearn. Don’t freak out
Freak out. Le freak, c’est chic
That window’s already closed sorry
Come on….
They are basically the late 2010 Blue Jays, Young talent, Fun. Bounced in the playoffs early. No one should be taking them over NYY, BOS, and I wouldn’t bet against Houston, Tampa, Detroit, Seattle, or Cleveland in a 5-7 game set if they met. The O’s are fun and all, but it’s done..
Texas either.
Red Sox are going to win by 5+ games. Yankees and O’s are highly overrated
O are they?
Rays will finish in 2nd.
If the Rays stay healthy… Their pitching is elite and they are deep too. The bats though… Guys like B.Lowe have to stay healthy.
Every team in the ALE has issues. The Orioles lack pitching, the Yankees are still an A.Judge injury away from being a .500 team (at least until they prove otherwise), the BJs are heading toward a tear down (I haven’t liked any of their offseason moves in years, and they keep getting worse), and the Red Sox could have a real problem on their hands with Devers and their pitching could crater under injuries given their injury history. I think the Orioles should be viewed as the #1 team, followed by the Red Sox, the Yankees, the Rays and the BJs, but I could see almost any order but the BJs at top.
Red Sox don’t stand a chance vs either team. Stop drinking the kool aid and cube back to reality
It’s going to be a dog fight but look at the NL West right now. Everyone needs to stay hot to prevent dropping far behind the others. I don’t recall a start to the season with three clubs after one week combined have just a single loss (and no postponements).
You’re delusional. Yankees are trash and won’t last the full 162. They will be dead and buried come July. Boston is easily taking this division.
Orioles are the best team by a good margin but these pitching injuries are crushing. They can’t be down Bradish, Grayson, wells+ and hope to beat a healthy Sox and similarly hurt Yankees team. Absent the health factor the Orioles win 100 games like 2023 and the kid brother Sox aren’t a factor. As is, there might be four teams with a shot
Red Sox have a great lineup and good starting pitching but their bullpen has too many holes which is why I think the Yankees will win it since they have strong pitching
LOL… The Yankees have strong pitching? Getting lost in the torpedo bat discussion is the fact that the Yankees have given up 32 runs in 6 games. For comparison, the Rays have given up 13 runs in 6 games. The Yankees will live and die by their offense, which to my eye still relies too much on A.Judge. If Judge goes down (and he’s overdue for an injury filled season), the Yankees are a .500 team in my opinion.
Let’s go with Yankees, Tampa, Baltimore, Boston and the Jays last.
Yankees shouldn’t be in first on paper, but I think that they will overcome.
Tampa surprises everyone.
Baltimore starters can’t survive the division longterm.
Boston pissed off Devers and now he is depressed. Loss of his and team identity.
And the Jays’ Atkins fired. Shapiro has tried 3 managers already. He doesn’t get any more manager chances.
Good thing you’re a “homer”…
Yanks win…followed by Baltimore, the Jays, the Red Sox and Tampa last…
Devers will be at least 30 games to get back to .250 BA… The yanks believe already in their offense, and that will carry them for a little while… Baltimore has the best offense in the EAST, the Jays gave the very best defense, and just enough offense to get past Boston, and Tampa will be effective enough to keep it close…
Devers is not depressed, he is struggling to get his timing down at the plate after only 14 at bats in game situations in spring training because of nursing his injured shoulders. A typical spring training is around 50 at bats.
Weird seeing how many people want to see Devers fail in his transition to DH. Dude is 28 with a proven track record with his bat. He’s going to hit well.
YBC – It’s not easy to miss the unjustified hatred people on this site have for Devers, a guy with a squeaky clean reputation who has done so much to contribute to team success over the years.
But I assure you it’s not like that elsewhere, most people appreciate him and respect him.
“hate” wahh victim alert
Devers has literally detracted from the team’s success by being on the field at 3B. If all those years he was already at DH the team would have won more games.
harris – Yeah you go ahead and pretend it doesn’t exist.
The 1950’s called, they are looking for you.
Pads – Yeah how did the Sox ever manage to make it to TWO ALCS and win a World Championship with him as the primary 3B …… great question, I suppose your tin foil hat tells you an impostor was pretending to be him those years.
The short ST is so underreported. He started the season behind. Just doesn’t fit the narrative.
lucky – Devers reported to ST in mid-January and spent the entire 11 weeks working on just his hitting.
Tell me again how his ST was “short”?
Sorry if Devers reporting to camp a month early to work on his hitting doesn’t fit the “but he missed most of ST” false narrative.
Fever – do you have a rough itinerary of what Devers days were spent doing for absolute certain, not just generalities based on the rest of the team??? Is a sincere question, I feel like I recall you spending some time watching the team in ST.
I’m curious what the split was of the ‘normal drills’ vs modified program either strengthening his shoulders, or, was tweaked to account for last year’s history with them.
Devers was *there* but I havent seen a good breakdown of exactly *what* he worked on in all that time.
GaSox – It wasn’t publicized and I certainly have no inside knowledge, but my understanding is more than 50% of his time in January was spent on conditioning and shoulder strengthening exercises with the strength coaches. And as Alex Speier also reported, the front office believed Raffy’s stature in the clubhouse and early presence would draw other players into camp early …. and it worked, as more than 24 players reported prior to Feb 7th.
My time in ST is strictly for games, this year I attended 11 games including road. It’s unfortunate you backed off on meeting up as I had an extra ticket a couple times, but I understand now your offer was intended for only other people so I’m glad it worked out the way it did ;O)
Fever – didn’t make it to a single ST game unfortunately. Once upon a time I’d wanted to spend a good chunk of time down there, but, realities of the new chemo regimen… well, let’s say most of March I didn’t even leave the bedroom. Would’ve loved to have met up, but… eh, life happens. At least we’ve finally got a competitive season to look forward to.
GaSox – Sorry to hear, I also look forward to the day when you post you’re in remission.
Just booked my flights for Atlanta in May, the way the Braves are going I might actually witness a win or two!
Fever, even in the lean year Boston seems to play a little better in Atlanta than other ballparks, so, with this year’s talent, maybe good things can happen!
GaSox – Well the Sox lost both games in Atlanta last year, including a shutout in one of them.
But so far my pre-season optimism is paying off quite nicely …. Campbell, Abreu, Duran and Story are looking great. I kept saying all offseason Story is due for a good year!
Don’t ask me about Walker though. LOL!
Hey what do you think of the new alternate jersey? I’m not a fan, never liked the green paint on the monster (where I come from we call it “puke green”) but I get what they are trying to do. Sam was right, it will appeal more to kids than adults.
And wow it was great to see so many of the 1975 team! I didn’t even recognize Yaz.
Here’s the deal, I would’ve been fine with the green replacing those hideous yellow city connect uniforms.
But…
What Bos did is really perplexing. IIRC they ditched the core-four alternate dark blue, which, has been around for years even on helmets, replaced that with those noxious yellow city connect jobbies, then made their city connect uni the green ones.
Bring back the dark blue, ditch the yellow, and do whatever is possible for the new non-yellow city connect series.
GaSox – I agree 100% with all.
As usual, it’s always about money.
Create new jerseys, keep going with them until everyone who wants one has one and sales die down, then replace with another new one.
I’m glad they are sticking with the red alternates because those are actually my favorite, perfect for hot summer days, but definitely I’d prefer the old dark blue instead of the yellow.
Here’s the thing .. historic teams like the Red Sox and Yankees should be above this gimmicky type of stuff. They don’t need the additional revenue like other teams do, they generate plenty already.
The Red Sox should be all about tradition. The Yankees get it, they don’t have city connect OR alternate jerseys.
But overall it’s not a big deal to me, if it helps them spend more on player talent then so be it.
I always get a laugh when people talk to me about their “authentic home white Sox jersey”.. I take one look at it, and then I break the news to them …… “It’s not authentic, the Red Sox don’t have player names on their home white uniforms”. ….. their reaction is priceless! Haha!!
I hate Shatkins as much as the next guy but man this team could be somthing. Roden and Wagner add bats that were sorely needed lower in the lineup last year while Santander and Gimenez add so much run support. Hoffman has shown in just a week that the Romano rollercoaster won’t be missed, although I think they shoulda kept him for all of 8 million to have a two headed monster on the backend
Rodriguez could be the other one of two headed monster that you talk about if the Jays use him in one inning max effort situations only.
Agreed about Wagner too. Awesome bat. No position yet though. His third will be below average defensively. He is better at 2nd.
The Jays swept the Nationals, let’s not get too excited yet.
#scoutseyes
I always thought it was #scoutsize
Lol well said!
Yankees – Torpedo Bats.
What kind of silly poll is this? Theeeeeeeeeee Yankees Win! Ahahahahahaha!
Imagine averaging 4 home runs a game and being .500 after 6 games? How bad is your pitching and defense?
Inferiority complex -party of 1
Not the Yankees. Their holes are very apparent and only a fool would think the home runs will keep up. They are looking at a fourth or fifth place finish.
I don’t think they’re the best team at all, but never count the Yankees out
At least 2nd for the Yankees because Baltimore would need to magically get good pitching and Boston has Alex Cora who could either win 100 games or 80
Imagine being 2 games behind the Phils already and talking smack about a team in a different League?
Especially when the Yankees got farther than the Mets. It amazes me how there’s so many ignorant Mets fans here who claim their team is untouchable.
I’m a Sox fan by the way. Never want the Yankees to win but never count them out
To be honest all 5 teams or at least 4/5 could be above .500 and under 92 wins. Think of the 1988 AL East when 5 teams finished between 85 and 89 wins.
The Yankees have the most complete team today and will make the moves needed if they’re in it at the deadline but the division was…and still is…there for the Orioles to take it and run if they would just invest in the top of the rotation. They refuse to do it, and that’s why I had to go with the Yankees.
If the Os or Rays had the payrolls of the other 3 teams it would be very interesting to see what they would look like
bigdaddyt, It’s not that simple. Having money doesn’t guarantee anything. IMO their biggest problem would be getting top FAs to sign to play in that park, even if they had the money to spend.
Last season the Trop had a PF of 96, tied for next to last. The Giants have had trouble signing guys because Oracle isn’t good for hitters, and it’s been marginally better than the Trop.
Jean – How does Park Factor hurt the Rays when it helps their pitchers?
It’s no different than Seattle or Detroit, hitters don’t want to play there but pitchers do.
I do 100% agree that free agents wanted no part of playing half their games in an open air Florida minor league ballpark this year. I’ve been saying that for months, the Rays will be facing a big challenge especially during peak tropical season which runs June thru September.
The problem is most teams are willing to give longer-term contracts to position players, but due to the increased risk of pitcher injuries, many teams are hesitant to sign pitchers long term.
The Giants are a perfect example. They have tons of money, as much as any team, except maybe the Mets’, who made huge offers to Harper, Judge, and Ohtani, only to see them prefer playing elsewhere, because Oracle is difficult for hitters. Even guys like JDM spurned their offer.
I agree, it’s true teams with low Park Factor numbers should be able to attract pitchers, but it’s a dilemma since they don’t want to give them 7 or 8 year deals. And guys like Yamamoto, who’s an exception, that teams would be willing to give a big deal to, are few and far between.
So a team like the Rays, that has good home-grown pitching, but needs to supplement that with better hitting can’t get guys, with options to sign elsewhere, to sign with them, even if they had the money to spend. Being able to attract pitchers is a plus, but winning also takes hitting, and that’s where teams in pitcher’s parks fall short.
But… imagine if the orioles could’ve kept Corbin burnes and throw money at max fried and tanner Scott
Any team is better when they add all-stars (except the dodgers since they already have no holes)
Jean – Thanks, that’s a fair point about the difference between hitter contracts and pitcher contracts.
That could be changing though, as it seems more and more teams are willing to give the longterm contracts to pitchers as well. Within the past year and a half we’ve seen long contracts to guys like Fried and Nola, even my team giving 6 years to Crochet and Bello. But you’re right, position players do seem to still have an advantage when it comes to securing longterm deals … perhaps in part because there’s 8 positional starters on each team compared to 5 starting pitchers.
sad – Agreed, if I were an O’s fan I’d be extremely frustrated by the cheapness of the new owner.
Teams hoping to contend shouldn’t be signing guys like 41-year-old Morton, that’s a recipe for disaster.
Colorado and Cincinnati are on the other end of the spectrum. No pitchers want to sign but if you are a power hitter they would be great. Arizona seems to be a hitters park but they manage to sign pitchers.
I picked the Red Sox because they added the most. Might not be enough but at least they went out and improved. Yankees moves made them even at best, Orioles are probably slightly worse than last year, Tampa Bay is just hard to root for and the Jays are a joke. Still any team could win and 3 teams from this division could make the playoffs.
If only Tampa could score some runs. They really need Eloy Jimenez. They could have both the best rotation and the best bullpen in the division.
I took the Blue Jays to win here. Its a long shot pick. I think the Yankees are going to be short starters at some point with both Fried and Rodon having long injury histories. They can hit at the top but Volpe, Peraza, Cabrera, Dominguez and LeMehiue are all questionable.
Baltimore is going to need to trade sooner than later for a starter, or rely on Povich and McDermott, looks like Rodriguez is going to be on the rack. They can acore runs but that rotation is a concern.
Boston should be the favorite tonwin the division with a loaded rotation, a stacked lineup, prospect depth and strong bullpen but the Rafael Devers situation concerns me.
I took Toronto. I like their starting pitching, good depth to their rotation, good bullpen and they have the bats. Gimenez and Santander were really good additions, this is their year.
I’m a jays homer but I think lots of people are sleeping on them. Do I think Gimmenz is gonna be a 50 homer guy and Straw bat .400? heck no but this team is clearly better offensively top to bottom. Right now it looks to me that Schneider is the 26 man on the roster as Roden and Wagner look to be in every day against righties and having more depth has allowed Springer to come into the year as a complementary player instead of a cornerstone to the offence which has made him look way more comfortable to start the year. Jays are 4-2 have been exciting to watch and yet the heart of the order has yet to truly get going. That and the rotation and pen look pretty good so far will be interesting to see what they look like in a few weeks.
bigdaddyt, Not a Jays’ fan, but I picked them in the poll. Not because of any certainty, since I wouldn’t be surprised if any of the 5 won the division. but because the Jays are probably the most underrated. I think every team has holes, especially the Yanks and O’s. The Rays didn’t do much to improve this offseason, so I don’t see them improving that much over last season. And the Jays are better than people think.
Bo is gonna be a bigger factor than most people realize. He was hurt almost all last year and awful when he wasn’t. A return to his normal is huge as he is around a mid 4-5 war player who was a -.3 war last year add in other improvements in outfield, DH and bullpen and you can easily see this team going from 74 wins last year to easily mid 80s-90s without any additional moves
Jean – You might have missed it, many did, but the Rays remade their pitching staff after the ASG last year by returning nearly a full rotation of SP from injury and basically replacing 2/3 of their Pen with new guys. They finished last season with the 21st ranked pitching staff according to FGs because of early season struggles, but had improved a ton in the 2nd half. They’re the #1 pitching staff in baseball right now according to FGs. Even if they slip a little from #1, they are going to be a top 5-10 pitching staff for sure, so when you say the Rays didn’t do anything to improve, you’re ignoring the internal improvements that will keep the Rays in the division race all season.
Jean – I was watching MLB Network last week and they picked the Jays to win the division, they also said they have the best starting rotation in MLB.
It’s crazy that a team with Santander and Bo & Vlad, both in a contract year, would be counted out by some. I also think this is the year that casuals learn how good Francis is.
Personally, I don’t do predictions. Without the ability to predict injuries and suspensions and trade deadline moves, they are pointless.
mp2891, The problem for the Rays, IMO isn’t the pitching. Last season only the CHW scored fewer runs. They had a -59 run differential. I’m aware of how good their pitching is, which is why I said in another post that I wouldn’t be surprised with any of the 5 winning the division.
Maybe their pitching will be good enough to carry them to the division title. And maybe I missed them adding a more reliable bat or two, and if they have, and are able to score more runs, I’ll revise my assessment.
Fever, The Rays winning the division wouldn’t surprise me at all, nor would any of the other 4 as I’ve said in multiple posts now. I didn’t pick them since I think it’s really difficult to win relying almost exclusively on the pitching.
Totally agree about predictions. They aren’t really predictions anyway. It’s just guessing. As you say. with the injuries and suspensions, deadline moves, and the very nature of the ups and downs of player performance, it’s impossible to accurately predict anything.
“Staff ace Corbin Burnes was allowed to depart for Arizona”
You make it sound as if the Orioles were just like “okay, bye,” when according to Burnes himself, they actually made a very aggressive push to retain him, but he had the right to choose his own destination in the end and Arizona was where he specifically wanted to play because that is where his wife and his infant twins live.
Oh. A os homer is sad
I’m not sad though. The Orioles are currently one of the best teams in baseball and will be for years to come, which as an Orioles fan, I find pretty cool.
No, they aren’t. They aren’t a top 10 team in general
lol okay
I had them in the bottom ten preseason, honestly. Sportbook has them 12-1 to win the WS, in the top ten. I had them around 50-1. Starting pitching. It looks like the Sugano experiment isnt going to work out. Morton will give you innings and had a good start today outside of the two homers. Eflin is a three masquerading as a one. Rodriguez might be done for the season. Kremer is Kremer.
They dont have a single starter they can rely on for a W.
Sugano has made exactly 1 start and it wasn’t even bad, so it’s probably a little early to be writing the obituary for his MLB career.
And having the team with the clear best position player group in the AL in the bottom 10 is a pretty weird take.
Cedric Mullins leading off at .250/.320 for his career, and his best seasons were three years back. Westburg is overrated in my opinion, 5%BB/22%K, .264/.312/.481 is good not great and he is in the three hole. O’Hearn / Mountcastle both are average. Cowser strikes out too much. Kjerstad, Holliday, Basallo and Mayo all could be great but arent great yet. Rutchsmann, Gunnar and O’Neill are your three best hitters. I like those three. You have no speed, cant run at all. Could be real good if the rookies outperform. Could be good enough to win games if they dont if you get a good start but you wont be getting many of those unless Rodriguez escapes the IR and Povich and McDermott both make waves. Orioles are overrated, need to make one or two trades for starting pitching.
They’re a top 5 team easily. You’re just a dumb hater
I see it the way I see it. They remind me of the Reds but inverted. Reds have good pitching and great pitching prospects, Orioles have a good offense and great position prospects.
I like the Blue Jays, they have a good team, well rounded, good depth in the rotation, good pitching prospects. I like Boston despite the Devers situation which has me concerned.
Watch out for the Cardinals. They are going to be a tough out in the playoffs. I cant see them missing the playoffs myself. I can see the Brewers and the Cubs missing the playoffs though. Just another example of my screwball thinking.
Are you crazy or just immature? Quit using the hater card every time you disagree with someone !!! I’m a jays fan but at least be real- we’re in 1st place right now, but we’ve been at home… We’re better but not great…could still use more bullpen help…
O’s are very good , Yankees are in trouble- at least not finishing 1st…Rays need to score more…Red Sox have it all but they’re in a race for 1st with Baltimore, Jays finish 3rd, then Yankees and rays last …
Im not the one criticizing others directly.
I took a hack at a couple players and a couple teams but I didnt cut any of the commentors on this message board I dont think ever.
I see it how I see it. Your feelings get hurt by my assessment of a team well I aint going to change my outlook about your team because you think Im being insensitive.
The only team I troll is the Cubs, because Im from Chicago and Im a White Sox fan and thats what we do here, and I really dont like the Cubs. I dont like the Dodgers either but they are hard to troll on. But the other 28 teams I shoot them straight.
It’s a little early for all of these naysayers on how this or that is going to derail the Orioles. Let’s see where things stand after a few turns through the rotation before we skewer a guy after 1 short start. Is the rotation a weakness compared to other teams, yes, that much is obvious. Can they pitch good enough to keep the team near the top and in the race until players come back from injury and/or trades are made to address any problems that are shown after longer than one turn through the rotation, absolutely. I’m still sticking with my Orioles, regardless of what the homers of other teams say or the negative ones here think. The window is not closed and it won’t be for a long time.
It’s an honest assessment, nothing negative about it other than Orioles fans dont want to hear it. Orioles fans have been riding high for a couple seasons now. Im not out to burst your bubble but its sort of a bubble.
Baltimore is greedy with their prospects, cant blame them, they choose to develop their players in order to keep their payroll tidy, and its tidy, but this season they are up against it in the pitching department.
I can’t get on board the BJs are the best team train any more than I can get on the Orioles aren’t a top 10 team train. That said, I definitely think there are no dominant ALE teams this year. It’s a wide-open race and injuries are likely to play a huge role in determining the division winner this year.
Again, it’s clear that the rotation is a weakness. I don’t doubt or dispute that. What I do dispute is making some of these “the sky is falling” types of assumptions after one pass through the rotation. This team didn’t not have that frontline starter two years ago and won over 100 games. Before anyone even misinterprets that, I am NOT saying the same thing about this team, not yet. That team had an excellent bullpen and a shutdown closer. This year’s team seems to be working towards that but Bautista needs to ramp up to the type of level everyone is used to. There will be hiccups but he will get there as long as they manage his innings in these beginning stages of the season.
I do think that they have slow played with the prospects and when they did pull the trigger it was for subpar acquisitions, except Burnes. I have no idea what was going on with that trade with Miami for Rodgers. Certainly they could have done much better than that, especially looking at the other deals around that time.
There are fans who don’t like any part of how this needs to be approached from the perspective of being a business and in such a way that maximizes the talent within the organization. Mainly the trading part. As much as I hate to see it or even admit it, if they can’t get extensions done they should immediately be pivoting to trades when they have a year to year and a half of control left. If you don’t get these players extended 3 years or more before free agency, it’s likely not happening, we all know that. The return from a trade with a very talented player is going to be much greater than a QO and comp pick, so the fans need to understand that and that it’s not about loyalty or one side. If both sides can’t come together, the writing is on the wall. Those situations will cause some fans to have a coronary!
In terms of trades for areas of need, absolutely they need to do better. Mountcastle, Mullins, Urias and Mateo should all be in play, in addition to prospects, including Mayo, to acquire a starter. Ideally one with control remaining and front of the rotation talent, be it realized potential or one who can hold his own immediately with a higher ceiling.
The weakness is evident but it isn’t a death sentence at this point in time. Let it play out and keep the lines open. If it doesn’t get better after a couple more times through the rotation, increase the urgency.
While I am a fan, at the same time I am also realistic about how the organization should be run in order for a longer term window of contention and not just the short window once a few prospects graduate.
I disagree with your perspective on trading guys with a couple years of control remaining who won’t sign an extension. It all depends on the window of contention, and I see the Orioles smack dab in the middle of their window right now.
You are right, I guess there are outliers that you’d want to take to the very end of control in situations like this but generally speaking, you would want to maximize your value/return.
Reality with the Orioles is somewhere in the middle of this argument. I can’t call them one of the best teams in baseball in part because they’re somewhat of an island of misfit toys group. Only Henderson and Rutschman can be written into the lineup in pen. Westburg, if he stays healthy this year, would be the third. Everyone else comes with positives but a caveat holds them back, and then that causes overthinking with platoons and not giving guys like Kjerstad a fair shake in favor of “proven veterans” like Mateo who have only proven they can’t hit. If deployed correctly, the offense can hold up its share of the bargain in being very good to excellent, and the bullpen is effective at minimum. But above all, the rotation holds them back from being one of the best teams in baseball. Until that’s fixed, very good and hoping to catch lightning in a bottle as they did in 2023 (look at one-run record, clutch and RISP stats you’ll understand 101 wins) is their ceiling.
Their one run record was not likely to be duplicated, I agree. However, while I would prefer they have a couple of front line starters and be a top 3-5 team, the reality is that they just need to get into the postseason healthy and on a good run and they have the roster to make a run just as much as any other team not named the Dodgers.
I’m not as high on Heston as other fans are and wouldn’t mind moving him in a package for legitimate front office the rotation pitching.
I disagree on Westburg and Cowser not being part of the everyday core that should be written in every night. You can’t say he’s not stayed healthy when the reason he missed a chunk of time was due to getting drilled in the hand by a pitch, not really his fault or the result of poor conditioning etc. Colton sliding into first was a flat out stupid decision, regardless of how anyone wants to spin it. While it opens an opportunity for someone else, it is entirely preventable and hurts the team. Thankfully it is the beginning of the season and not in a playoff race.
It takes 163 games but Crochet gets it done and the Red Sox win the division and are the only team from the A.L. East to make the playoffs.
Being terrible with predictions, I stopped doing so, So I have no idea, but it sure is going to be fun to follow!
Let’s go, Birds!
1. Baltimore
2. Red Sox
3. Rays
4. Yanks
5. B-Jays
Gwynning you’ve been out in the S.D. Sun too long pal, come on in, put the Yankee game on & enjoy. Ahahahahaha!
Idk Ridds, losing Schmidt, Cortes and Cole Train (for different reasons) might be too many arms to lose, especially pre-Game 1. I could *definitely* be wrong here, but I’ll stand by my prediction. In your benefit, I suck at predicting these things!
Not to mention Gil & peanut brittle, aka Stanton, it’s gonna be a dog fight. Good luck w/your Pads, pal!
How’d i forget to mention Gil? You too braddha, gl Yanks
I’m more bullish on the Yankees and more bearish on the Rays and Red Sox, but I do think the Orioles will win the division when it’s all said and done.
Im Bullish on the Rays and Blue Jays, Hold on the Red Sox, Bearish on the Orioles and Yankees.
I voted for the Rockies every time so kudos!
Rox > Yanx
😛 YBC
Wish I could honestly say that I think my Red Sox are going to win the East, but I don’t think just Crochet and Bregman will be enough to put us over the top. We will be better than last year as long as those two stay healthy for the bulk of the season.
IMHO, the Yankees are overrated but they could still, obviously, win the East. I really believe all 5 teams could win it this year. I do think the O’s are the best on paper and that their starters, however a poor start all of them have gotten off to – outside of Efflin – they will get more healthy as the year goes on and I do think they’ll add something by the deadline at least.
I predict the Yankees and Orioles will both take a step back this year. Blue Jays and Rays will finish around .500. Boston is my dark horse candidate to win the division.
i picked boston there’s a wide range of outcomes but the ceiling is high if crochet and campbell keep it up
Chapman is in the 1..35 WHIP category for a while. Not sure if this is considered a resurgence.
It’s the HR suppression back to 0.6, 0.7/9 in 2023-24 that makes all the difference. 2.52 and 3.04 FIP. Not elite, but close.
Picking Boston over Baltimore? Put down the crack pipe, fellas.
I’ll go with Bostons ability to hit over Baltimores ability to pitch. Especially if Anthony is brought up soon.
Red Sox are a complete team. Orioles don’t have enough starting pitching.
MLB Fan – You make an interesting point. Is being a complete team better than being a lopsided team. In my opinion, the Red Sox should be a top 10-15 offense/pitching, while the Orioles should be a top 5 offense and around 20ish pitching. Which is better for purposes of winning games?
Hoping for Baltimore but I am taking Boston in the poll.
I’m really liking the RedSox this year. They are my favorite to win the AL East. The Yankees losing Cole is really the big difference maker. Honestly, I can see the Orioles finishing in last place, their rotation is horrid. Don’t worry O’s fans, you have prospects, and your GM won his World Series already, GM of the year award! Worst GM in the game
Orioles finishing last is a ridiculous take, unless you assume major injuries.
@mp2891 Your underestimating how bad their rotation is
The Yankees will need to get a bat at the deadline but they’re the best team in the division when healthy. The Red Sox and Orioles rotations will be exposed over the course of the season. The Rays are a sleeper if they’re pitching staff stays healthy and their young bats come along
Do the Yankees have enough SP? I’m not familiar with the Yankees depth at the position, but I worry about any contender with Carrasco in their rotation. That said, I suspect Carrasco is just keeping a seat warm until healthy/better arms return.
Cole getting hurt was a blow to them, but the pitching should be good. The hitting needs to produce, Bellinger and Goldschmidt need to hit 25 bombs to help carry the offense, it can’t be Judge by himself. Stanton is out so the rest of the offense needs to turn it up.
I picked the Yankees, but can easily see Rays, Red Sox or Orioles winning the division.
1. Yankees
2. Red Sox
3. Orioles
4. Rays
5. Blue Jays
Rays all the way!! Just wait til Franco gets back…. 😉
Albert Belle. Frank Thomas. Nolan Ryan. Aaron judge. Bo Jackson. Barry bonds. Cecil fielder. And ichiro. Put them in a ring to fight to the death. Who’s the last man standing?
Bo Jackson. That dude has superpowers
Big Hurt and Judge too nice, Ryan too old. Bo would get hurt. Belle would go hulk and flame out, while sullen Fielder would sit in a corner and sadly eat an entire pie in one sitting. Which leaves the crafty ninja Ichiro and the surly Bonds. Close call.
The teams that extract the most outs per pitch and maximize defensive value will outperform expectations.
The Tampa Bay Rays have the highest probability of winning the AL East due to an underappreciated structural advantage: their pitching depth and flexibility, combined with a division-wide injury and regression risk among competitors, create a statistical edge that outweighs their offensive uncertainties.
The Rays are playing in a bandbox that will not give them home field advantage like the Trop did with their pitchers. I don’t see how the Rays get above 5th place in the division.
Ignorant SOB – Rays have the #1 pitching staff in baseball right now, even after playing their first 2 series in the little league park known as Steinbrenner. They did that without McClanny, who should be back in April. The Rays are good and deep in pitching this year. It will carry them all season. I predict an 80-90 win season for them right now, which could be good enough to win the division, though I personally believe they will finish just outside the playoff race. They may be dominant on the mound, but they are going to struggle to score runs.
@Ignorant Son-of-a-b
The dimensions are essentially that of Yankee Stadium, and many people are picking the Yankees to win the AL East. The humid air may have a negative impact on the travel of the ball. We’ll see. That’s my prediction. Seems unfair to criticize my pick without you providing your own.
I’m having problems picking between the Red Sox and Yankees.
@Ignorant Son-of-a-b
What makes you think they will win it?
I think the Red Sox could win it because they have the most complete roster – lineup, starting rotation, and bullpen. I think the Yankees can win it with a superlative offense that bashes everyone’s heads in and scores enough to makeup for it’s injury depleted rotation. (Leaning Red Sox though, as the small sample size of Yankee performance so far may have artificially influenced my bullish stance.)
@Ignorant Son-of-a-b
I appreciate you delving deeper into your claim. Much appreciated!
Self admitted Red Sox bias, but there is no way the Yankees win this division. No freakin’ way.
No Cole, no Stanton, Soto is gone. The only bat opposing pitchers need to worry about is Judge. There way too much faith/hope in Goldy and Belli. The defense is not good.
If Fried has any regression on his past arm issues, the staff is toast.
I don’t know man. It’s gonna be a loooong season for the NY teams.
I think the Yankees will surprise because these three guys will turn it up a notch: Jazz Chisholm, Anthony Volpe, Jason Dominguez. And stay consistent all season. Goldschmidt and Bellinger can tread water and repeat their 2024 seasons more or less and Judge doing Judge things this offense will be immense.
I think it’ll be Boston. I like their team on paper and those young guys coming. Their bullpen could be their biggest issue. With Hendriks already hurt and Chapman older and kinda inconsistent these last few years.
Sox just took 2/3 from the O’s in Baltimore. Signs of things to come. This offense is gonna be scary.
Bats are waking up. So many strike outs though.
This offense is gonna score a ton of runs this year.
swanhenge
Bats are waking up. So many strike outs though.
===================
Sooooooo many Ks.
I understand weak, but Story, Casas, and Bregman have a combined 25/3 K/W.
Youk – The Red Sox offense? The one hitting 94 wRC+ as a team right now? I’m actually wondering the opposite, whether the drop off in Devers bat is so extreme this season (once he finds his bat) that it makes the Bregman signing a net-negative.
After reading this board, I’m surprised by how much love the Red Sox are getting and how much disrespect the Orioles are getting. Both could win the division, but it’s not like either team is going to run away with the crown. Neither is a complete, dominant team. Injuries will play a big part in determining the division winner. For example, Red Sox better hope that Newcombe and Fitts aren’t pitching every 5 games for very long.
You guys are delusional. Yankees will take it my friends.
Interesting comments and poll results, in a humorous sort of way. This is anybody’s division to win, but the current statistical favorite by a whisker is the team hardly anyone chose to win it: the Jays.
The Jays at home sweep The Nationals (woo scary) and everyone wants to deem them the dark horse.
Not sure where you were going with this comment, but I know where I was going: The Jays are still the slight statistical favorites to win the division (followed by the Yankees, Rays, Orioles, and Red Sox). This poll, like all the others, is really just a headcount of team fans who comment on this site. This explains the completely different poll ranking order (Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles, Jays, and Rays). Point being, if you gave up a grain of salt for these poll results, you overpaid.
Statistical favorite after 6 whole games?? I don’t think there is anything concrete that can be said about these teams after six games. I’m a big fan of Memorial Day as a great day to look at the standings and to get a sense of where everyone is at and how the teams are shaping up.
The BoSox only 81-81? Dude I’m a Yankee fan and that’s crazy. They’re an 86+ win team at least.
Those are last years records not projections…. lol
lol my b
Bet your mortgage on the Rays.
I love the wording that the Orioles ALLOWED the staff ace, Corbin Burnes to leave. Like, it’s illegal to put a gun to his head, even in Baltimore. The dude wanted to be near home. The Orioles offered him a butt load of money to stay but money wasn’t the issue. Why make it sound like this was a failing on Baltimore’s part?
Lots of untapped potential in Baltimore and Boston. Those types of teams tend to outperform expectations. O’s and Sox for two of the AL playoff spots.
I usually don’t vote for bad karma reasons, but the RS look like the best in the division. But it could once again be a case of five .500+ teams.
All the teams have issues so technically any of them could win if all breaks right. Orioles have the best overall lineup but Yankees have Judge. I would say Orioles are the front runner but anything is possible.and their rotation is not good.
At least the Red Sox have the best manager and that’s worth a bit. Not a perfect handler of the pitchers so they need a strong presence there in the dugout. But then most managers don’t know how to manage pitchers. Exhibit A: Dr. Boonedoggle.
The Orioles pen might be so horrendous that not only is last higher probability than first but might be so dumpster fire O’s are trade deadline sellers. If an Orioles reliever has an outing allowing nothing he’s almost guaranteed to give up runs his next outing. And if by some miracle the bullpen arm puts two scoreless outings together be amazed.
The #1 most important thing to address in the offseason because it was the #1 most glaring issue from 2024. Maybe the Orioles will get a bullpen worthy of trying to compete for a world series then for stunting prospect development this upcoming offseason. But to think Elias could be a seller and buyer at the deadline and move the Mountys for prospects then move prospects for bullpen arms, I just don’t think he’s capable of good GMing to have the O’s as world series contenders.
Jays are currently first in the division, which means Shatkins should be fired since they haven’t gone undefeated to start the year.
Redsox are loaded
Os better tighten up their defense or they won’t be in this discussion much longer.
I picked the Sox because they’re my team, but really I have no clue. A lot will change over the course of 162 games.
Go Sox!
“Meanwhile” has to start the sentence, not come in the middle between commas. Same with “fortunately.” How does a writer mess that one up but then get it right a couple paragraphs later? There also shouldn’t be commas around “more recently.”