Taking A Look At The A.L. East

Article Written by Hudson Stewart

(@hudson_stewart6)

The American League East is undoubtedly a division of two tiers. You have the Red Sox and Yankees, who are the two clear favourites in the division thanks to them both adding star sluggers to their already stacked lineups this off-season. Then, you have the bottom tier, consisting of the Orioles and Rays. The Orioles haven't torn down their team yet, but it seems inevitable that players like Machado and Britton are going to get moved if the team doesn't have an incredible start to the season. As for the Rays, they've already traded key players this off-season, including Evan Longoria, Steven Souza Jr., and Jake Odorizzi, so they're likely not going to be contending this year. That leaves the Toronto Blue Jays, who appear to be stuck in the middle. Coming off of back-to-back ALCS appearances, the Jays only won 76 games last season, so one would think that they're headed towards a rebuild. But, management has made it clear that they want to contend this season, and they've backed that up by addressing positions of need on the roster. The Jays are in a weird spot, but if you look around the American League, and how many teams are rebuilding, it's not that far-fetched to say that they could be back in a playoff hunt this season.

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This article was originally posted on South of the 6ix on February 25, 2018 9:52 pm