We Hit Dingers: AL East Preview

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Projected Standings

The Red Sox should win the division and I think it will be by a considerable margin. They are a better team than they were in 2015 despite losing David Ortiz to retirement. They bolstered their starting rotation by acquiring Chris Sale this offseason and have the best 1-2-3 starters in all of baseball and arguably the best entire rotation. Adding Mitch Moreland to play quality defense at first base will allow Hanley Ramirez to focus mostly on hitting. I also believe in what Pablo Sandoval has shown thus far in Spring Training and think he will be able to perform well at third base and also believe in the development of their young players. Lastly, I think that their bullpen could be an issue but they will certainly acquire help in that area if need be.

Did Toronto do enough this offseason to be a playoff team once again in 2017? Bringing back Jose Bautista was a big move for the front office considering how think their lineup could have been without him in the lineup. Losing Edwin Encarnacion will hurt a lot and Kendrys Morales certainly isn't good enough to replace his production. However, I think Bautista will bounce back in 2017 and make up for the loss to an extent. Toronto's path to being a playoff team again will be through their starting rotation which should be as good as it was in 2016.

Baltimore thinks they are a playoff team and were a Wild Card team in 2016, but I don't think they did enough to improve on last season's roster to get back to the playoffs. Bringing back Mark Trumbo will help their production levels but they didn't do anything to strengthen their pitching rotation which outperformed expectations last season. They do have Manny Machado, one of the most exciting players in all of baseball, and Buck Showalter, one of the best managers, but I don't think these two will be enough.

Even though the Yankees are going through a mini rebuild they are still better than Tampa Bay. Getting rid of Carlos Beltran and Brian McCann will actually make them a better team in 2017 than they were in 2016 because it will allow Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge regular playing time. Their lineup still isn't productive enough considering they still need to get rid of some veterans to make room for prospects, but will be good in the future. Their pitching rotation is not very good, which will hold them back this season, and they overspent on Aroldis Chapman, a move I greatly disagree with.

Tampa Bay isn't rebuilding but they also aren't going to field a very competitive roster this season. Their lineup is pretty thin and lacks power and their pitching rotation has some holes at the back end. The Rays should bring up the rear in the division and the front office needs to finally figure out a plan for the future.