The American League East
A Three Team Race
This division has power, pitching, and pizzazz, not to mention everyone watches them because they seem to be the standard Sunday Night Game of the Week… yes, every week. (lol) Here we are going to break down three teams and and give you an honorable mention.
Starting north of the boarder, the Toronto Blue Jays, who had back to back World Series championships in the 90’s, but they have not been able to make a lot of splash since then, are strong contenders this season. As you often hear me say, “Offense sells tickets, defense wins games.” If this team is not too careful, they could end up winning triple digits this season. With Bichette, Biggio, Chapman, Guerrero Jr., and the new edition speedy outfielder from Colorado Raimel Tapia, the Blue Jays looks as though they are going to put up some runs. To add to that fire power, you still have Gausman, Ryu, and Stripling on the hill, making me believe that those three could win a combined total of 40 plus games as starters.
Now dropping down into New England for the Boston, Red Sox. These guys seem on paper to have it all. On the offensive side they have Hernandez who can play infield and outfield, Bogaerts, Devers, and the addition of Trevor Story from Colorado. On the mound, they have the never aging Rich Hill, Chris “looks like he is breaking his back on every delivery” Sale, hard throwing Nathan Eovaldi, and Hirokazu Sawamura. Boston should put up their fair share of runs, and should be able to hold opposing offenses to under four runs a game.
Que the Frank Sinatra music, New York, New York. Let’s talk about the Yankees. These guys have fire power as long as the Bronx. Trading away Gary Sanchez gives Kyle Higashioka the chance to be the everyday catcher. Then the Bronx Bombers added Josh Donaldson from the Twins, re-signed Anthony Rizzo to go along with the fire power of DJ LeMahieu, Joey Gallo, Giancarlo Stanton, Gleyber Torres, and Aaron “court’s in session” Judge. Now on the bump, Gerrit Cole, Jordan Montgomery, Aroldis “I didn’t see it coming at me because it was 103 MPH” Chapman. Between Cole, Montgomery and others, the Bronx Bombers should be able to get 40 to 50 wins out of their starting pitching.
So now that we have listed these three, let’s talk about how it might play out. To me, to be successful and win your division, you need between 45 and 60 wins from your starting pitching, relieving some of the pressure on the bullpen. The way the scheduling stacks up, to win your division, you need to have winning records against teams that are struggling. You can not afford mistakes against the teams that are in the rebuilding phase that won’t end up with winning records. The things they teach us in little league come into play strong when you have a division this hot. Missing a cut off man, not seeing a sign, or not being able to play little ball, can be the difference between hearing your name called out on the starting line-up in October or having a BBQ at your house with a bunch of friends watching the game on TV.
Honorable Mention
It’s hard to make a prediction based on what these three clubs have done to build their teams. Not to mention, the ever so scrappy Tampa Bay Rays. They don’t have the same names on their line up card as the three listed above but they know how to win. This division is going to be just as fun to watch as the NL East. So get your drinks out of the refrigerator, get your spits out, sit on the couch and watch some good ball because this division will have it all.
On April 5th, check into the Top Fan Rivalry podcast where there will be 15 Top Fan Rivalry returning guests giving their predictions for each division. So you will have to tell us what you think.
By Bill Perkins, TFR Owner