The AL East has not gone like anyone thought it would. We all knew the Red Sox would regress, but not this much. Nobody thought Tampa would stink. Heck we all thought the Yankees would have the possibility of running away. And no one thought the Orioles would be in first at the All-Star break. Certainly a wild division this year.
Baltimore Orioles (52-42)- The Orioles have somehow found themselves in first place. That is off the back of Nelson Cruz. The $8 million man has surged his way to 28 homers and 74 RBIs. This has more than covered for the missing production of Matt Wieters (lost for the season) and Chris Davis (ineptitude at the plate). Steve Pearce has emerged from nowhere to put together a great season. Machado has been a good player. Markakis is putting together one of his best seasons. Adam Jones is great as usual. The key on offense for this team is JJ Hardy's power returning and Chris Davis being more than a masher. The team could have a bigger lead if it had better pitching. The Jimenez signing has been a flunk. Tillman, Chen, and Gonzalez have been suspect at best. Gausman has been stellar in his the majority of his starts, and it is looking like he will be getting an extended stay now. Bud Norris has also been a solid guy. If this team wants to go deep into October, it will need to pick up another starter.
Final Record Prediction: 92-70, 1st in the AL East
Final Record Prediction: 92-70, 1st in the AL East
Toronto Blue Jays (49-47)- The Blue Jays were the best team in baseball for a period of time. Then they fell back down to Earth. The reason they have stayed in it is pitching. That is the reason they have been bad for the past couple years. Poor pitching. They finally have some good pitching. Marcus Stroman has been a revelation. Minus a bad start against the Angels the other day, and a couple average starts in May, Stroman has been stellar. Dickey is good enough. Buehrle is having a career year. They need to add an arm or two if they want to win the division. The bats have been great. Encarnacion was having a break-out year until he got injured. Bautista has been a rock. Cabrera has been good. Lawrie was good before he went down with an injury. Jose Reyes has managed to stay healthy for the majority of the year. Yet the team is starting to fall apart. They haven't been playing great baseball for awhile. I don't see a playoff team here. They need to add a couple arms for that to happen.
Final Record Prediction: 85-77, 4th in the AL East
Final Record Prediction: 85-77, 4th in the AL East
New York Yankees (47-47)- The Yankees downslide will continue. This team has stayed around this long with subpar pitching, but the loss of Tanaka, even if only for a few weeks, will crush this team. David Phelps has been the only other better then average, and barely at that, pitcher. CC Sabathia is gone for the season, and he wasn't good when he was around. They are hoping McCarthy and Whitley can make up the loss of Pineda, Sabathia, and Tanaka. They can't. The offseason spending spree has been a failure for this year. Beltran has been injured and hasn't hit. McCann has been lost at the plate. Ellsbury definitely isn't worth the contract he got. For the positives, Betances has emerged as a worthy replacement for Mo when that position opens up. Not to mention Brett Gardner is also having a pretty good year. The Yankees need to add a marquee pitcher, another one or two solid pitchers, and hope the bats pickup. I don't see all that happening. The Yankees will be spending their second season watching October from the couch. It is disappointing, too, considering it is Jeter's last year. As a baseball fan, it would've been nice to see him go out on top.
Final Record Prediction: 83-79, Last in the AL East
Final Record Prediction: 83-79, Last in the AL East
Tampa Bay Rays (44-53)- The Rays have dug themselves a hole. But as of late, they are the hottest team in baseball. Price has figured out what was ailing him at the beginning of the season. The team was hurt when Myers went down, because Longoria lost his protection. Kiermaier has filled in admirably and has played himself into an everyday spot. Ben Zobrist has been the hottest player in baseball before the All-Star break. Like I said, Longoria is having a down year, so if the Rays want to actually have a shot at the playoffs, they need some help on offense. Meanwhile, the rotation has been pretty bad this year. Odorizzi is starting to improve, though. Alex Cobb needs to improve and the Rays need to find a replacement for Bedard. Price has been great, and Archer has improved his game a lot this year. I think the Rays will ride their hot streak a bit longer, and make up a lot of ground.
Final Record Prediction: 90-72, 2nd in the AL East
Final Record Prediction: 90-72, 2nd in the AL East
Boston Red Sox (43-52)- The Red Sox have been pretty terrible on offense this year. Everyone is having a down year. The OF has been horrible. Ortiz's average is down. Napoli and Pedroia's power numbers are down. Bogaerts hasn't been the same since the Drew signing. The rotation has been stellar, though. Lester is having a career year. Lackey is solid. Peavy has been good for his past few starts. Buchholz is starting to look like the pitcher he was last year. Workman and De la Rosa have been good, too. Since the Red Sox released Pierzynski, they have won 5 out of their last 6. That is enough to give them the hope of contending. They may still trade Peavy, but they need to get an OF they can plug in right away. Something needs to be done about the OF for this team to have an actual shot at getting back to October. Jackie Bradley is starting to look comfortable at the plate, so do something with Nava/Gomes/Carp. Give Betts the everyday job. Send Bogaerts down and place Holt at 3rd. This team can make it back to the playoffs with the right moves and some luck. I don't think they will do enough to get back there.
Final Record Prediction: 89-73, 3rd in the AL East
Final Record Prediction: 89-73, 3rd in the AL East