American League East Breakdown
By Trey Johnson
The 2006 baseball season is finally underway. Although many people take the summer off I do not recommend it. Baseball can be the most profitable sport of the year. It is a chance to greatly increase your bankroll for football. An opportunity you dont want to miss. In this six part series I breakdown each of the six MLB divisions starting today with the American League East.
New York Yankees
The Yankees have relied on big name stars with big time paychecks. After last seasons slow start the organization realized they needed to do something different. They cut their payroll from $212 million to $185 million while still managing to sign Johnny Damon to a four year deal.
The Yankees success this season will depend greatly on their pitching staff. With Randy Johnson 42 and Mike Mussina 37 health becomes a major concern. Expect Chien-Ming Wang and Carl Pavano in the third and fourth spot as long as their shoulders hold up.
Their bullpen took a hit with the loss of Tom Gordon. Kyle Farnsworth will come in and try to fill the gap. Mariano Rivera is the best closer in baseball and should take care of business as long as Farnsworth can get his job done.
The Yankees have one of the deepest lineups in baseball especially with the addition of Damon. If the pitching staff can hold up physically the Yanks will not only make the playoffs once again they become a legitimate World Series contender.
Boston Red Sox
One thing is for certain. This is not the same Red Sox team that won the World Series in 2004. Over the last two seasons Boston has dramatically revamped their roster.
Coco Crisp, acquired from the Indians, joins the Red Sox to replace departed Johnny Damon in center field. Crisp is a switch-hitter who hit .300 with 16 homers, 69 RBIs and 15 steals last year. At six years Damons junior and improving Crisp should more than fill Johnnys shoes.
In addition to Coco Crisp the Red Sox also added pitcher Josh Beckett, third baseman Mike Lowell, Rudy Seanez in the bullpen, shortstop Alex Gonzalez, second baseman Mark Loretta and backup first baseman J.T. Snow.
There are a lot of question surrounding this Red Sox squad. Will Schilling be healthy and return to form? Will Foulke bounce back and be a force in the bullpen? Will Coco Crisp be able to fill Johnny Damons shoes? The Red Sox wont be a bad team but with both the Yankees and the Blue Jays in the same division they will need to be nearly perfect to make the playoffs for a fourth straight season.
Toronto Blue Jays
The Blue Jays are closing the gap on division powers Boston and New York. After winning 80 games last season the Jays went out in the off-season and acquired A.J. Burnett, B.J. Ryan and traded for Troy Glaus. In fact with their lineup there is a good chance the Jays are not only closing the gap they may have just hurdled it.
Newly acquired starter Burnett and a healthy Halladay will lead the talented group of Toronto pitchers. Ted Lilly, Gustavo Chacin and Josh Towers round out the rotation. B.J. Ryan will give the Jays a dominant closer for the first time in five years.
With a balanced lineup and abundance of power pitching and a healthy Halladay the Blue Jays will give both the Red Sox and the Yankees a run for their money.
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Nothing can help the poor Devil Rays not even a new owner. Although ownership and front office changes have improved the overall atmosphere in Tampa Bay they still dont have the talent to compete with most teams in the majors let alone their division.
Management finally gets the big picture. They have a group of young hitters, and Joe Maddon replaced Lou Piniella as manager. That is still not enough. With easily the worst starting rotation and the worst fielding defense in the league it will be a long season in Tampa once again.
Not only will the Devil Rays be sitting in the basement of the American League East but they just might end up the worst team in baseball. Granted they are headed in the right direction but they didnt get this bad overnight they wont become a contender overnight either.
Baltimore Orioles
The Orioles are banking on the arms of their young pitchers to end the streak of eight straight losing seasons. It wont happen! Baltimore went wire-to-wire in 1997 to win the American League East and advanced to the ALCS for the second consecutive season. Since then they havent had a winning season and finished higher than fourth place one time.
The Orioles pitching staff is young. They lost their best closer, B.J. Ryan to Toronto and they dont have a true number one starter. The only bright spot on the team is their middle infielders. Miguel Tejada at shortstop is the heart and soul of this club and he isnt happy about the direction management is heading. Second Baseman Brain Roberts was named the most valuable Oriole but he underwent surgery on his left elbow in September.
Dont expect the Orioles to improve much this season. In fact last place is most likely where they will end up. There is simply too much talent in the AL East for this team to compete. Last season the Orioles became the first team to go from 14 games over .500 to at least 14 games under .500 in the same season. It should be a tight race between the Orioles and the Devil Rays for last in the division.