Last season, the American League East was arguably the most competitive division in all of Major League Baseball from top to bottom. And even with the wheeling and dealing of the offseason all but wrapped up, the division still appears to be a slugfest between all five ball clubs involved this 2016.
Let’s now take a closer look at each of the teams from the stacked AL East below. To be on top of the rest of the American League, check our comprehensive previews for the West and Central divisions right after this.
MLB World Series News and Previews
- Cleveland Indians vs. Minnesota Twins Preview –August 17, 2017
- Tampa Bay Rays vs. Toronto Blue Jays – August 17, 2017
- Chicago White Sox vs. Texas Rangers Betting Preview – August 17, 2017
2016 American League East Preview
Toronto Blue Jays
2015 Record: 93-69
Key Additions: GM Ross Atkins, RP Drew Storen, SP J.A. Happ, RP Jesse Chavez
Key Departures: GM Alex Anthopoulos, SP David Price, SP Mark Buehrle, OF Ben Revere, C Dioner Navarro
This 2016 season, Price and general manager/true-blooded Canadian Alex Anthopoulos are no longer with the team along with several other key contributors in Ben Revere and Mark Buerhle. However, the Jays addressed their need for pitching by signing three solid pitchers in Drew Storen, J.A. Happ and Jesse Chavez.
If this revamped pitching lineup works out well for Toronto, this now-Ross Atkins-led team can find itself as back-to-back AL East champs mainly because its offense is still as frightening as ever. The Jays – led by the one-two combo of Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion – topped the league in runs scored last season with 891, which is about 120 runs more than the next team behind them (Yankees).
Their fielding doesn’t have any holes at all either, especially in an infield manned by Josh Donaldson and Ryan Goins. As such, the Blue Jays are rightfully priced at +200 to win its second division title in as many years.
New York Yankees
2015 Record: 87-75
Key Additions: SS Starlin Castro, RP Aroldis Chapman, OF Aaron Hicks
Key Departures: C John Ryan Murphy, SS/2B Stephen Drew, SS Brendan Ryan
Outlook: The New York Yankees sort of held back from their typical offseason splurging tendencies, but the team did still land a huge mid-game reliever in Aroldis Chapman to further bolster a decked bullpen that already has Dellin Betances and closer Andrew Miller.
With the Chapman signing, the Yanks now have the top three pitchers with the most strikeouts per nine innings from the previous season. However, New York will have to wait a little longer to know exactly what they’re really getting out of the 28-year-old, as Chapman still has to serve his 30-game suspension imposed by the league for domestic violence.
Although the bullpen is looking very mighty, the same could not be said of the team’s batting order, which is littered with a bunch of aging wonders of seasons past. We doubt that Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira will combine for over 60 home runs again, and the likes of former standouts Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran appear to be beyond their prime too.
The addition of cunning second baseman Starlin Castro injects a little youth into the lineup, but New York’s offense as a whole still appears rather suspect. Nevertheless, +350 is still a sound price for the Bronx Bombers to reclaim the division title this season.
Baltimore Orioles
2015 Record: 81-81
Key Additions: RF Mark Trumbo, DH Pedro Alvarez, SP Yovani Gallardo, OF Hyun-soo Kim
Key Departures: SP Wei-Yin Chen, OF Gerardo Parra, OF/1B Steve Pearce
Outlook: Buck Showalter still believes that big, early leads win baseball games, and the offseason moves by the Baltimore Orioles further reinforces the general manager’s philosophy.
Baltimore didn’t spend big in free agency since they opted to retain the services of Chris Davis and his big bat with a massive seven-year, $161 million contract – the largest deal ever made by the franchise. Still, the team managed to hulk up even more with the arrivals of Mark Trumbo and Pedro Alvarez, so the firepower of the Orioles is still in place, if not even better.
However, maybe the O’s should’ve spent more for their starting rotation rather than more sluggers. They lost their best starter in Wei-Yin Chen and replaced him with Texas’ Yovani Gallardo, who is just slightly above-average at best.
The glaring balance on pitching and hitting is still evident on paper for Baltimore, and that’s may be the main reason why Vegas only pegged them at +650 to win their second AL East title in three years.
Tampa Bay Rays
2015 Record: 80-82
Key Additions: OF Corey Dickerson, 1B Logan Morrison, SS Brad Miller, OF/1B Steve Pearce
Key Departures: SS Asdrubal Cabrera, OF Grady Sizemore, OF/C John Jaso, RP Jake McGee, SP Nathan Karns
Outlook: It seems that virtually every year, the Tampa Bay Rays are undermined by the oddsmakers in the offseason only to be proven otherwise as the regular season progresses. This year, the Rays are priced at +900 to win the division, which puts them in that same underdog position yet again.
Like the Orioles, Tampa Bay didn’t make any huge splashes in free agency. The team probably has full confidence in their three stud starters, Chris Archer, Jake Odorizzi and Drew Smyly, as the catalyst for victories. Archer is a bona fide ace in the majors already, and Odorizzi and Smyly are well on their way into that distinction as well.
However, the main concern regarding the Rays is with their offense, beginning with the face of the franchise in Evan Longoria. The 30-year-old third baseman has not had a generally-accepted standout season since 2013, and he’s even failed to become an All-Star or a Golden Glove awardee since 2010.
Corey Dickerson’s signing was a big get for Tampa Bay, but even he comes with an obvious question that needs to be answered: can he consistently put up good numbers away from the confines of hitter-friendly Coors Field in Colorado? With so many tentative elements in play, the Rays appear short of another key piece or two from contending with the much-improved AL East field.
Boston Red Sox
2015 Record: 78-84
Key Additions: SP David Price, RP Craig Kimbrel, OF Chris Young, RP Carson Smith
Key Departures: SP Wade Miley, SP Rich Hill, RP Craig Breslow
Outlook: Remember when the Boston Red Sox went all out with by acquiring big name free agents Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval last season, only to end up dead last in the East? The Red Sox didn’t shy away from shelling out loads of cash again this year, so are we about to witness another epic meltdown?
Boston finished at the bottom of the division in three of the past four seasons, yet the one outlier happens to be their 2013 World Series campaign. This year appears to favor a turn for the better, as the additions of David Price and Craig Kimbrel are simply too hard to ingore as significant upgrades to the Sox’s pitching corps.
Yet in spite the signing of those two new, coveted pitchers, the boys of Beantown still have to be wary of their free agency jinx. Last season, the team acquired Ramirez and Sandoval with hefty contracts, but both stars were actually two of the worst position players in terms of wins above replacement.
Still, there’s more optimism than not with what new President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski has done for the club this time out. The Red Sox still have a superb core of rising talent; Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Blake Swihart are all under the age of 25, and each of them has shown flashes of brilliance last season.
With a stellar pitching cast and a well-rounded batting order, the Red Sox are once again the offseason favorites to win the AL East at +175. To top it all off, this will also be David Ortiz’s final season in the majors, so you know that the Boston faithful are in for a memorable 2016 run nonetheless.
Writer’s Prediction
The Red Sox make huge strides indeed, but the Blue Jays (+200) succeed at defending their division title.
Create a betting account now just in time before the MLB regular season takes to the mound.
