Baseball’s spring training is underway, which means the start of regular season is only a few weeks away. (James Weisser, Off the bench baseball)
Major League Baseball teams are heading to spring training and the start of the regular season is now only weeks away, so let’s preview the American League Eastern division.
New York Yankees - The New York Yankees are coming off a disappointing loss in the American League divisional playoff round to the Tampa Bay Rays in six games. The Bronx Bombers will be returning with the nearly same team after resigning all-star slugger DJ LeMahieu to a six year, $90m contract extension. However, New York’s starting rotation will look a little different this season at they opted not to resign Masahiro Tanaka and James Paxton, and instead signed Corey Kluber. Kluber was a two-time Cy Young award winner with the Cleveland Indians but only pitched one inning last season for the Texas Rangers after suffering a muscle tear in his right shoulder, which caused him to miss the rest of the season. The Yankees also acquired starting pitcher Jameson Taillon from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for four prospects. Taillon is coming off of his second Tommy John surgery as his last healthy season was in 2018 when he had a 3.20 ERA. The Yankees will continue to be dominant on the offensive side, but the big question mark remains with their starting rotation. If Kluber, Taillon and Luis Severino can all stay healthy then the Bronx Bombers are a threat to win the World Series. However, if one of them gets hurt then the Yankees will find themselves trying to tread above water.
Boston Red Sox - After finishing 2020 in last place, the only way the Boston Red Sox can go is up. The Red Sox will be entering this season with manager Alex Cora, who is making his return as the Boston leader after being fired two years ago for his involvement in the Houston Astros cheating scandal. The Red Sox are in a situation where they are trying to rebuild their farm system after trading it away when they won the World Series back in 2018. One area that Boston specifically struggled with last season was their pitching, as they had a 5.58 team ERA. In addition, the Boston pitching staff ranked last out of the 15 American League teams under the categories of hits, runs, earned runs, home runs and walks given up. To try to improve their bullpen, Boston acquired Adam Ottavino from the New York Yankees. While Ottavino had a great 2019 season with a 1.90 in 73 relief appearances, he fell out of favor with the Yankees last season as he had a 5.89 ERA and 1.852 WHIP in 18 1/3 innings over 24 games. Ottavino also appeared in only one playoff game where he allowed an earned run in two-thirds of an inning in game 2 of the ALDS vs the Rays. The Red Sox also resigned starting pitcher Martin Perez who went 3-5 with a 4.50 ERA last season. Some key questions for the Red Sox this season include how will the starting pitching rotation improve? Boston is expected to have Eduardo Rodriguez back at 100%. However, general manager Chaim Bloom has made some reinforcements as well. For instance, he signed Garrett Richards, who has a good upside, but the question remains whether he can stay healthy. In addition, can the Red Sox unlock the potential for starting pitcher Nick Pivetta, who spent last season with the Philadelphia Phillies before being dealt to Boston last August. Lastly, can Nathan Eovaldi stay healthy this season after missing some time last season with a right calf strain? There are a lot of unanswered questions surrounding the Red Sox pitching staff this season. To make things worse, the Red Sox will be starting this season without Chris Sale, who is still recovering from Tommy John surgery. Boston is hoping that he will be able to make some kind of contribution this season as he is still under contract for four more years with an option for 2025. The Red Sox are not going to rush Sale back. Boston also recently traded outfielder Andrew Benintendi to the Kansas City Royals in a three-team deal that also included the New York Mets. In addition, the Red Sox will likely not be bringing back center fielder Jackie Bradley, Jr. who is still currently on the open market. Ultimately, the Red Sox are looking at a season with a bunch of question marks and will most likely not make the playoffs as they are still rebuilding.
Toronto Blue Jays - The Toronto Blue Jays are coming off of a surprising playoff berth last season when they lost to the Tampa Bay Rays in the wild card round. Toronto played all of their home games last season at their AAA ballpark in Buffalo, New York because of COVID-19 and will start this season at their spring training stadium in Dunedin, Florida. However, they are hoping to be able to return to the Rogers Centere in Toronto sometime this season. The big question that lies ahead for Toronto this season is whether or not their young, talented team that includes Vladimir Gurrero Jr, Bo Bichette, Cavan Biggio and Lourdes Gurriel Jr can keep up the success that they had in 2020’s shortened 60 game season over the course of a full 162 game slate. Something else to keep an eye on is whether or not Teoscar Hernandez can keep up his MVP caliber play or if he will regress. The Blue Jays major move this offseason was signing outfielder George Springer to a six-year, $150m deal to add another slugger to their lineup. The Blue Jays are a young, up-and-coming team that could cause some trouble for the Yankees.
Tampa Bay Rays - The Tampa Bay Rays are coming off of a season as the defending American League champions after going to the World Series but ultimately losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games. Tampa Bay made some significant additions to their starting rotation by signing Chris Archer, Rich Hill and Michael Wacha, among others. However, they also lost quite a bit of their team, such as Charlie Morton and Hunter Renfroe to free agency while Blake Snell was traded to the San Diego Padres. The Rays also have some players returning this season including Brandon Lowe, who led the team in wins above replacement with 2.4. In addition, Kevin Kiermaier will return for his ninth season with the Rays as he is the longest tenured player on the roster. And of course, there is Randy Arozarena, who will look to continue from where he left off in his breakout 2020 rookie season. If Tampa Bay winds up making the playoffs this season it will be the third straight season in which the Rays made the postseason, which would be the longest streak in franchise history. The big question for the Rays will be how their pitching will play out considering that they lost some key arms during the winter.
Baltimore Orioles-The Baltimore Orioles are coming off a season where they finished in third place and missed the playoffs, although they did stay in the playoff race later than expected. The Orioles’ key acquisitions during the offseason include Felix Hernandez, Matt Harvey and Freddy Galvis. However, Baltimore is still in the middle of a long rebuilding process and will not be contending for the playoffs this season, especially in the AL East where they will have to go up against the Yankees and Rays The key for the Orioles this season is to continue to develop their prospects and give them some playing time in the big leagues.
It will be very interesting to see how this season plays out with all of the free agent signings and now that it will be a regular 162 game season, rather than a shortened 60 game sprint.