2015 AL East Preview - bayers3's Dynasty

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2015 AL East Preview

Posted on June 22, 2014 at 11:50 AM.

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THE BOSTON GLOBE (RED SOX DYNASTY REPORT)

Once again the AL East is going to be a rough place to play, especially for the two-time defending world champions. Most of the big names are still here, including the ones that came over in 2014, but they won't be for long as age is becoming an issue. The AL MVP and Cy Young could stay here for 2015, with a number of teams in the running.

AL EAST (PROJECTED FINISH)

#1 Toronto Blue Jays (95-67) : The Toronto Blue Jays are in just the right position to be one of the best teams in baseball, and should have a solid shot at taking the AL East. The pitching staff is very loaded, and could be one of the best in the AL. Marcus Stroman, fresh of a dominant AL ROY win, is turning into a true ace. The Blue Jays signed Jake Peavy this winter and traded for Yovani Gallardo during the 2014 season. Morrow and Drew Hutchison round out their five-deep rotation, not a bad way to head into the season. The bats are still there with Jose Reyes, Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Bautista, and Brett Lawrie coming back, the Blue Jays don't have any excuses left.

#2 Tampa Bay Rays (90-72) : Pitching and defense still dominate this team, but they have a core of really good hitters that should do enough to help them win games. Another team with a five-deep rotation, just a little younger than Toronto. David Price, Matt Moore, Alex Cobb, Jeremy Hellickson, and Jake Odorizzi are ready to be the best rotation in the division if the Blue Jays don't get it done. Evan Longoria and Wil Myers are back, and Ben Zobrist just doesn't seem to get old. How well the younger players like speedy SS Hak-Ju Lee do will probably be the difference between winning the division and just making the Wild Card.

#3 Baltimore Orioles (88-74) : The Orioles are going to be really good on defense, and they continue to have a ton of power. Chris Davis, Adam Jones, Manny Machado, and Matt Wieters make up a potent core of hitters that will continue to power the Orioles. Baltimore addressed their pitching issues last season by trading for Jered Weaver and Wily Peralta. It wasn't enough in 2014, but this season they will be in Baltimore the entire year, wiping out their weak rotation. Weaver, Peralta, Miguel Gonzalez, and Ubaldo Jimenez give them enough to take a shot at winning this division, but TB and Toronto are probably a little too good.

#4 Boston Red Sox (81-81) : It isn't so much that Boston became that much worse, but more about the rest of the division improving. The Red Sox lose alot of depth on offense and Jon Lester, but the core of their hitters return and they have the best 1-3 starters in the division. The Bogaerts-Pedroia-Napoli gauntlet should keep Boston in games, but Ortiz isn't Big Papi anymore and it's hard to tell if Middlebrooks can replicate his 40HR 2014 season. The bottom of the order is very green, with Swihart and Betts probably in for a long season. Boston's pitching is still very good but the rotation now has two rookies (Workman and Barnes), the bullpen is full of guys with very little MLB experience (Ranaudo, De La Rosa, Britton), and Koji Uehara is 40.

#5 New York Yankees (77-85) : The Yankees still have most of their big expensive names, but they don't have much youth to balance it out. They will probably continue hitting with Ellsbury-Beltran-Teixeira-Gardner still in the lineup, but all of those guys are over 30 and starting to slow down. To make matters worse, after a year long suspension, Alex Rodriguez is back. A-Rod is a shell of his former self, but the 39 year old is still on the books through 2017 for over $20 million a year, so he's going to play if he can still swing a bat and throw a ball. The rotation is basically a disaster outside of Japanese import Masahiro Tanaka, who had a very good 2014 debut. Michael Pineda is their #2 starter, and that isn't a good thing, they will continue to hemorrhage runs on defense and it's going to sink their season. With little help in the minors, the Yankees are either going to be big spenders next offseason or risk writing off the next 2-5 years.