AL East

AL East

Yankees

Strength - The Yankees definitely have some depth now with versatile players like Stephen Drew and Garret Jones coming to the team. They also have plenty of options at the corners with Alex Rodriguez , Mark Teixeira , Chase Headley , and Jones. The Yankees have plenty of players who can move around and spell some older players.

Weakness - The Yanks are extremely old and injury prone. Their roster will be filled with players like Carlos Beltran , A-Rod , Teixeira , CC Sabathia , and Brian McCann. The pitching staff is also a concern because of health not so much age. Michael Pineda and CC have clearly had their injury issues over the past few years. Ivan Nova is coming off of Tommy John Surgery and Mashahiro Tanaka clearly has his elbow problems.


Wild Card Players - Michael Pineda is clearly an ace when healthy. He can be a Cy Young candidate if he stays on the mound all season. With the bat the Yankees have a guy with over 600 homers who is considered to be an unknown. Alex Rodriguez is coming back. We have seen guys like Raul Ibanez have monster seasons at age 40 and 41 so why should we rule it out for A-Rod.

Red Sox

Strength - The Red Sox have a lineup filled with All Stars and sluggers. David Ortiz is still having monster years. The Red Sox have added the big bats of Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval. I think Hanley will put up monster seasons for Boston. Then Dustin Pedroia is the Red Sox heart. Pedroia was injured but will have a major bounce back season. The Sox also have some young players like Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts.

Weakness - The Red Sox pitching staff is littered with questions. The Sox do not have a clear cut ace. A lot depends on what Clay Buchholz can do this season. The Red Sox also need a big year from Rick Porcello. Porcello had a great year last year but has never had a full year of consistent dominance before. Wade Miley has been up and down and a move to the AL can't really help. Justin Masterson has had his struggles and so has Joe Kelly. Kelly has great stuff and can be great for the staff.

Wild Card Players - Clay Buchholz and Joe Kelly can each be all stars if they can put everything together. They both have had flashes of dominance and Buchholz has had big years before. The Red Sox have some wild card bats in guys like Allen Craig and Shane Victorino  have been all stars in the past. Right now they don't have a job. One of them can still be traded but whatever they do can still
be beneficial. Brock Holt is also a player who showed us what he can do. Hopefully the he gets
playing time because he is good.

Rays

Strength - Even without David Price the Rays pitching staff is still very talented.
Alex Cobb is turning into one of the best pitchers in all of baseball. Cobb has dominated in the AL East his whole career. The Rays also Chris Archer and Drew Smyly young pitchers who continue to improve. The Rays also have a very talented pitcher in Matt Moore returning from Tommy John
Surgery.


Weakness - The Rays lost some bats. The bats always seem to be the problem. The Rays traded away Myers and Zobrist. They will count on James Loney , Desmond Jennings and John Jaso to protect Evan Longoria. The question for the Rays will be can they scratch out enough runs to support the
pitching staff.

Wild Card Players - Desmond Jennings has showed us flashes of being a star baseball player. The Rays will need him to have a strong season. The Rays also need a big season from Matt Moore coming back from injury. Moore has shown how great he can be. Without Price the Rays can really use him to have a big year. Jennings and Moore need to fully develop.

Blue Jays

Strength - The Blue Jays obviously have one of the best 3/4 lineup combos in baseball. The Jays also have speed with Jose Reyes. The Jays have finally added an extremely talented and gritty catcher in Russell Martin. Martin is a catcher who can slug 20 homers. The Jays also traded for Josh Donaldson who is another hitter who can give you 30 homers and 90-100 RBI.

Weakness - Besides Marcus Stroman and RA Dickey it is safe to say that the Jays are a little weak on the mound. Mark Buehrle is a trusted veteran but is better suited as a 4 or 5 than a 2 or 3. Drew Hutchison , and Marco Estrada will give up a lot of home runs and the AL East will be a tuff place to play. The bullpen is filled with question marks and Brett Cecil will take over as closer. I am more worried about who gets him the ball rather than if he can close. Perhaps the Jays can still add a veteran reliever.

Wild Card - It looks like the Jays will go with Justin Smoak at first base. Smoak has clearly had his problems but he has also showed us that he has power. The move from Seattle can really benefit Smoak. Smoak has been trying to break out for sometime now and the move may be his make or break. It also allows Encarnacion to mainly DH.

Orioles

Strength - Even with some subtractions the Orioles still have a pretty powerful club. They also have a good mix of some speed. Adam Jones is obviously the best player on the team. He can do it all and is a major power bat. This should be the year that Manny Machado puts everything together. Despite losing Nelson Cruz I think Steve Pearce can be a guy who can hit 20-25 homers.

Weakness - The Orioles clearly do not have an ace yet again. They have a rotion filled with mostly threes. They have Chris Tillman as their number one. The Orioles have made the playoffs without a clear cut ace but that has not translated into a World Series appearance.

Wild Card - Steve Pearce will be getting a lot more at bats now that Nick Markakis and Cruz are gone. Pierce showed a lot of pop last year and has the potential to be a guy who can hit 20-25 homers. Chris Davis has had his up and downs but the question will be can David be the guy from two years ago or is he more inclined for 30 homer seasons. Either way Davis should bounce back in a big way , just how big is what makes him a wild card.




By Peter Vitella
@realpete13