2008 AL East Preview

AL East

1. Boston Red Sox

Strengths: The lineup. The Red Sox lineup is always deadly with David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez and it should be even stronger with Jacoby Ellsbury starting this season. JD Drew did show some flashes in Spring Training but expect more of the same from JD Spew and look for Jason Varitek to continue his downward spiral into the abyss (0-8, 6 k in two games vs. Oakland.)

Weaknesses: The rotation. Other than Josh Beckett, the Red Sox have no other proven commodities in the rotation. Daisuke Matsuzaka looked erratic in the season opener vs. Oakland and Jon Lester got rocked in his start. Boston will need Clay Buchholz to step up along with Tim Wakefield this season and pray that Curt Schilling will be able to give them anything at all for the stretch run.

Player to Watch: Jacoby Ellsbury. Ellsbury shined in the second half of the season and the postseason and took the starting job away from Coco Crisp. Let's see if he can put it together for 162 games. My vote is yes.

Outlook: More of the same from the Red Sox. Slugging teams into submission and winning with just enough pitching to get by except for every fifth day when Josh Beckett takes the mound. Sox win the division.

2. New York Yankees

Strengths: The lineup. Just like their rivals the Red Sox, the Yankees have a killer lineup headed up by reigning MVP Alex Rodriguez (*cough fraud *cough). Throw in Bobby Abreu, Hideki Matsui, and Derek Jeter and you've got a lineup that can run any pitcher out of the game early.

Weaknesses: The rotation. The Yanks have a lot of young talent in the rotation in Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes and no one really knows what they will bring to the table. Mike Mussina had an awful 2007 season and I wouldn't expect much more from Moose this season. Chien Ming Wang seems to be the rock of this rotation and Andy Pettitte should do a fine job this season if his HGH shipments arrive on time.

Player to Watch: Joe Girardi. Okay, he's not a player but he's important. It will be different watching Yankee games without Joe Torre calling the shots and it will be interesting to see how Girardi handles the pressure and scrutiny of the New York news media. My bet is that he lasts two months before assaulting a reporter with a bat.

Outlook: The Yanks lose a close divisional race to the Red Sox

3. Toronto Blue Jays

Strengths: Pitching. The Jays have good starting pitching in Roy Halladay and AJ Burnett but not much behind that. They also have BJ Ryan on the back end to close the door but he's been struggling with injury problems and it should concern the Jays and what's left of their fans.

Weaknesses: Lack of depth. The Jays have some good players in Alex Rios, David Eckstein, and Lyle Overbay but really lack a deep lineup. The Jays have holes at third base (unless you consider Scott Rolen a viable option.) and shortstop and I don't know what they can do to address them

Player to Watch: BJ Ryan. Can he finally stay healthy and be the guy that we saw in Baltimore? My guess is no but it should be fun to watch.

Outlook: Talented enough to win a good number of games, but not enough talent to compete with the Sox and Yanks

4. Tampa Bay Rays
Strengths: Mentality. The Rays have been playing hard all spring and haven't backed down to anyone and expect that to translate to the regular season. The Rays are a scrappy little team with a lot of young talent and expect them to be in their fair share of games.

Weaknesses: Pitching depth. Behind Scott Kazmir and the on-and-off James Shields, the Rays have no real viable options in the rotation or bullpen. Expect a lot of no decisions for Kazmir this season as the bullpen blows a lot of his quality starts.

Player to Watch: BJ Upton. Upton batted a solid .300 with 82 RBI and 24 home runs in 129 games. Look for Upton to have a breakout season.

Outlook: A young, scrappy team that falls short throughout the season but competes each day.

5. Baltimore Orioles

Strengths: None

Weaknesses: Everything. They traded away their best pitcher in Erik Bedard and their best hitting threat in 'roided up shortstop Miguel Tejada. They have no rotation and their lineup is riddled with the Aubrey Huff's and Kevin Millar's of the world while Nick Markakis wonders how it all went so horribly wrong.

Player to Watch: No one. Don't watch an Orioles game unless your team plays them. Even then, flip a coin.

Outlook: They'll stink. They'll really really stink and finish near the bottom of the standings in all of baseball.

Other playoff picks:
AL Central Winner:
Cleveland Indians
AL West Winner:
Seattle Mariners
AL Wild Card:
Detroit Tigers
AL Division Series:
Boston vs. Detroit
Seattle vs. Cleveland
AL Championship Series:
Boston vs. Cleveland
AL Winner:
Boston Red Sox
World Series:
Boston vs. New York Mets
World Series Champion:
Boston Red Sox

Other Awards:
AL MVP: Manny Ramirez
AL Cy Young: Josh Beckett