Post by yankeesfan02bunt on Mar 30, 2014 18:41:45 GMT -5
The AL East is full of great teams. It'll be a battle of who wins it in 2014. Almost all teams have made some offseason improvements, so it'll be tight. Here's what I predict the outcome will be. I think it'll be a battle between Boston and New York.
5th Place- Toronto- With Bautsta and Edwin, The Blue Jays offense will be good. A healthy Bautista will be unstoppable, and if Edwin can continue his offense over the past two years, my prediction is most likely wrong. But at Catcher, 2nd base and 3rd, there is some question. IN my opinion, Getz isn't really good enough to be a every day player. LAWRIE is injury prone and who knows how good he'll be after coming off those injuries. There pitching needs some improvement as well. If Morrow can come back healthy, he can be a good number 1 or two. BUERHLE is staying consistent, but production is lowering bit by bit. Dickey had an off year, and who knows if he'll bounce back. There numbers 4 and 5 are unknown really, so there is a missed spot.
4th Place- Baltimore- there opening day pitcher is Tillman, he did good last year, but I don't think he'll do the same. At the 2nd spot, Ubaldo ended the year strongly. But playing against the AL east is hard, and maybe he'll be inconsistent. But who knows with this guy. Chen, Gonzalez and Norris are t bad 3 4 and 5s though, but who knows. There offense is a powerhouse, but with Machado hurt to start, 3rd base is a hole. JJ Hardy is a good SS, and I expect him to continue his production. Adam Jones, he just keeps getting better. Now for Davis..... He was unbelievable last year, but honestly, do you think he'll do that again? Expect him to go down, but still hit 30-40 HRs and drive people in. It was a hard choice between them and TB at fourth, so we'll have to see.
3rd Place- TB Rays- There pitching is always great. Though we expect it to get worse, it doesn't. Price is Mr. Consistent. Moore is kind of a question. Cobb and Archer are gonna break out I think. Odorizzi will have a lot of pressure and will not produce I think. There hitting can use help, but it isn't bad. Loney and Escobar did better than expected last year, and I think the same will happen again. Longoria and Zobrist will produce as they always do. In the OF, Jennings is good. Wil Myers will have a great year. Either DeJesus or JOYCE will play the last position, both good players.
2nd Place- Yankees- This was a hard one. Both teams had great offseason yankees the most. But I wouldn't expect the same Teixeira or Jeter as before. Coming off seasons with injuries, it'll take time for them to get back to themselves. McCann was inconsistent last year, so who knows. At second and third, they could've done better than Roberts and Johnson, though not horrible. The OF has made significant improvement over the offseason, even with loss of Granderson. With Beltran, Ells, Ichiro, Gardner and Soriano, there OF is one of the best- if the not the best- in the league. And in a perfect world, with no injuries, the Yankees starting pitching can be good. If Sabathia, Kuroda, Tanaka, Nova and Pineda all live up to expectations, it'll be a great season to watch. But the bullpen has questions. With he loss of Mo, Robertson has a big hole to fill. In his last stint as closer for a while, he wasn't too pretty. We'll have to see.
1st Place- Red Sox- As much as I hate to admit it, expect a great season from them. They've got a great/good player at almost every position. Without any injuries, who knows, they have a chance to repeat. A solid starting pitching, great bullpen, outstanding hitting for this team. The acquisitions of Pierzynski and Sizemore can only help, and adding Mujica can solidify the already strong bullpen.
These are my predictions. I expect some to be wrong. Feel free to give your opinions on the AL East and some changes. I expect another close race in this division, with almost all teams over .500
5th Place- Toronto- With Bautsta and Edwin, The Blue Jays offense will be good. A healthy Bautista will be unstoppable, and if Edwin can continue his offense over the past two years, my prediction is most likely wrong. But at Catcher, 2nd base and 3rd, there is some question. IN my opinion, Getz isn't really good enough to be a every day player. LAWRIE is injury prone and who knows how good he'll be after coming off those injuries. There pitching needs some improvement as well. If Morrow can come back healthy, he can be a good number 1 or two. BUERHLE is staying consistent, but production is lowering bit by bit. Dickey had an off year, and who knows if he'll bounce back. There numbers 4 and 5 are unknown really, so there is a missed spot.
4th Place- Baltimore- there opening day pitcher is Tillman, he did good last year, but I don't think he'll do the same. At the 2nd spot, Ubaldo ended the year strongly. But playing against the AL east is hard, and maybe he'll be inconsistent. But who knows with this guy. Chen, Gonzalez and Norris are t bad 3 4 and 5s though, but who knows. There offense is a powerhouse, but with Machado hurt to start, 3rd base is a hole. JJ Hardy is a good SS, and I expect him to continue his production. Adam Jones, he just keeps getting better. Now for Davis..... He was unbelievable last year, but honestly, do you think he'll do that again? Expect him to go down, but still hit 30-40 HRs and drive people in. It was a hard choice between them and TB at fourth, so we'll have to see.
3rd Place- TB Rays- There pitching is always great. Though we expect it to get worse, it doesn't. Price is Mr. Consistent. Moore is kind of a question. Cobb and Archer are gonna break out I think. Odorizzi will have a lot of pressure and will not produce I think. There hitting can use help, but it isn't bad. Loney and Escobar did better than expected last year, and I think the same will happen again. Longoria and Zobrist will produce as they always do. In the OF, Jennings is good. Wil Myers will have a great year. Either DeJesus or JOYCE will play the last position, both good players.
2nd Place- Yankees- This was a hard one. Both teams had great offseason yankees the most. But I wouldn't expect the same Teixeira or Jeter as before. Coming off seasons with injuries, it'll take time for them to get back to themselves. McCann was inconsistent last year, so who knows. At second and third, they could've done better than Roberts and Johnson, though not horrible. The OF has made significant improvement over the offseason, even with loss of Granderson. With Beltran, Ells, Ichiro, Gardner and Soriano, there OF is one of the best- if the not the best- in the league. And in a perfect world, with no injuries, the Yankees starting pitching can be good. If Sabathia, Kuroda, Tanaka, Nova and Pineda all live up to expectations, it'll be a great season to watch. But the bullpen has questions. With he loss of Mo, Robertson has a big hole to fill. In his last stint as closer for a while, he wasn't too pretty. We'll have to see.
1st Place- Red Sox- As much as I hate to admit it, expect a great season from them. They've got a great/good player at almost every position. Without any injuries, who knows, they have a chance to repeat. A solid starting pitching, great bullpen, outstanding hitting for this team. The acquisitions of Pierzynski and Sizemore can only help, and adding Mujica can solidify the already strong bullpen.
These are my predictions. I expect some to be wrong. Feel free to give your opinions on the AL East and some changes. I expect another close race in this division, with almost all teams over .500
