American League east Preview
Now the moment you have all been waiting for, the long anticipated AL east preview. The AL East is arguably the most competitive division in baseball . It certainly spends the most money.
Toronto Blue Jays– Will the Jays be competitive minus Roy Halladay? Not a complicated question and the straight forward answer is, Not a chance in Hell. The Jays may benefit from a possible return to form of injured pitcher Shawn Marcum and Dustin McGowan. But overall the Raptors have the best chance of making the playoffs in Toronto. Prediction 70-92
Tampa Bay Devil Rays – BJ Upton did not perform well in 2009 , I’m predicting him returning to the Upton of 2007 who batted .300 and had 24 Home Runs. Carl Crawford is playing in a contract year and I think he will have an even better season than he did last year. Last year Crawford was insane on the base pads. If Crawford was on base everyone knew he was going to steal second and probably third but nobody could stop him. Look for more of that and look for Scott Shields and the Rays to head back to the playoffs in 2010.
Baltimore Orioles– The Birds are building a bright young offensive team. Nick Markakis, Brian Roberts, Matt Weiters, and Adam Jones are becoming an offensive force to watch out for. Unfortunately the Orioles pitching is probably the worst in baseball. It will be a battle for forth with the Blue Jays all year.
Boston Red Sox– The Red Sox improved their Rotation with the acquisition of John Lakey. John Lester may be one of the most underrated pitchers in the American League. Josh Beckett will be playing for a contract. Starting pitching will not be a problem. What will be a problem is offense. The loss of Jason Bay and Mike Lowell is going to hurt them. Davis Ortiz is another year older and seems to be on the down slide of his career. Victor Martinez will be an offensive upgrade over Varitek but he is not very good behind the plate. The Sox have a good one two punch at the end of the bull pen but their middle relief is sketchy. Loss of Offense, Shaky middle relievers, Ageing veterans, Will all equal a fight for a playoff spot with the Rays who just might steal that wildcard spot out form under them.
New York Yankees– The reigning World Champions made themselves better. Curtis Granderson is an upgrade over Melky Cabrera . Nick Johnson will produce lots of RBI opportunities for A-Rod and Tex, Javier Vazquez could be a number two or three pitcher on most teams and as a Number four guy will be dominate. The Bull-Pen is deep and Mariano is still the best their is. The loss of Damon does sting a bit but Gardner/Winn is a defensive improvement and does provide more speed for the bench. A full Year of ALex Rodriguez will certainly make a huge difference as well. Look for the Yankees to start hitting right out of the gate and not look back. Don’t be surprised if by mid-season the Yankees have a 8-10 game lead in the east. Another bold prediction is that Robinson Cano will be in contention for the batting title and it will be a three way race for mvp between Tex, A-Rod and Mauer
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Between the Foul Poles 
February 24, 2010 at 11:26 pm
a bunch of holes on the yanks? left field maybe, deeper part of the bullpen…what else?
February 25, 2010 at 9:41 am
Left field may not be their strongest spot but they have a lot of talent there with Gardner and Winn. No to mention they could play granderson in left and put gardner in center. As far as the bull pen goes, are you high? It will be either Hughes or Joba setting up for Rivera and ahead of that Aceves,Park,Marte,Gaudin,Mitre, and a shitload of young talent like Melancon and Brackman that can throw in the mid 90’s. If anything they have to figure out who to release. The have lots of depth and will mix and match from the minors to always have a strong bull pen. Tell you what, you write a post about why you think the Yankees have a lot of wholes I will whole heatedly post it for the readers and we can see what they think
February 15, 2010 at 9:47 pm
you are pretty high on a yankee team that has a bunch of holes. bias?
February 17, 2010 at 3:04 am
Well I will admit as the Head Writer for Yankees Online Magazine I have a bit of a Bias. But in defense of this bias they are the defending world series champs and have improved their rotation with the addition of Vazquez. The only other team in baseball that may have a better rotation is the Red Sox, and that is if Dice K can return to what he once was and Wakefield can continue to be ageless.
The Yankees have also have the Best offense in the AL east by far. If you can convince me that someone is going to win more games in the AL east , im all ears.