American League East: 5 Questions
Five Questions Facing Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Orioles, D-Rays
Mar 30, 2007
1. Yankees or Red Sox?...or Blue Jays?
The Yankees will once again win the American League East. Sure, the pitching is iffy, but the lineup has All-Star caliber players everywhere other than first base. The offense will have to outslug the opposition early in the season because the starting pitching is not at full strength (Chien-Ming Wang will be out most of April, and Andy Pettitte has not been 100% this spring). The bullpen should be better this season and Mariano Rivera is still the best closer in the game. The Red Sox improved their already strong lineup by adding J.D. Drew and Julio Lugo, but they'll need to get better production from Coco Crisp at the top of the order and also a bounce back year from Jason Varitek behind the plate. The Red Sox pitching might be just as questionable as the Yankees' staff right now. Josh Beckett was a disappointment a year ago, Curt Schilling is another year older, and despite his super star/rock star hype, Daisuke Matsuzaka is unproven at the Major League level. Jonathan Papelbon will return to his closer roll, but other than that the bullpen is underwhelming. The Toronto Blue Jays finally wedged themselves between New York and Boston last year, but repeating that in 2007 will be tough. They will hit, no doubt, but after Roy Halladay the pitching is a problem. A.J. Burnett hasn't made more than 21 starts in the last four seasons and Gustavo Chacin has had injury problems during his short tenure. But if everything falls right for the Jays, don't rule out a shot at the Wildcard.
2. Can A-Rod finally win over Yankee fans?
This question might not be answered until October. In New York, it's simple: win and everyone's happy. As long as the Yankees don't spend too much time out of first place this season (which probably won't be the case), then Alex Rodriguez leaving the bases loaded in the fifth inning of a mid-season game against Kansas City won't matter much. The slate is clean again for Rodriguez for the time being. All A-Rod has to do is exorcise his October demons and lead the Yankees to a World Series title. Is that asking too much?
3. What should be expected from Matsuzaka in his first season?
Based on how much he's being paid and how much he's been hyped, a lot should be expected from the Red Sox rookie Japanese hurler. In the first half of year number one the Sox should get back quite a bit on their investment. His quirky delivery and array of pitches will be a nightmare for hitters to learn to deal with the first time around. But this is the big leagues and hitters will learn how to handle him a little better when they see him for a second or third time. Fans in Boston would love 18 wins, but 15 might be more realistic for a guy who's an unknown at this level.
4. How much will the signing of Frank Thomas impact the Blue Jays?
The question with Big Hurt is always going to be health. He proved last season, even at age 38, he is still a very productive player. He played in 137 games for Oakland in '06, hitting 39 homers and driving in 114 runs. If he can do it again for Toronto this year, it will be a huge boost for an already powerful lineup. The Blue Jays will make sure he stays healthy by making him a DH exclusively and not asking him to leg out too many extra base hits. He'll provide great protection for Vernon Wells and will get protection himself from the likes of Troy Glaus and Lyle Overbay. This signing puts the Jays offense just about on par with Boston's lineup and gets them a little closer to the Yankees as well.
5. Any chance the Orioles and Devil Rays won't finish fourth and fifth?
Highly unlikely. The Orioles continue to go backwards as far as pitching goes. The three big pitching acquisitions in '07: Danys Baez, Steve Trachsel, and Jaret Wright. The first wasn't even good enough for Tampa Bay to keep him last year. The second has been erratic and came up quite small in the NLCS last year. And the third had trouble just getting to the sixth inning. Young hurlers Erik Bedard, Adam Loewen, and Daniel Cabrera have shown promise, so why the Orioles decided to bring in past-their-prime, overrated, veteran pitchers to surround them is a head scratcher.
For the Devil Rays and what few fans they have, they might want to look south at what the Marlins did a year ago by winning 78 games with a roster primarily made up of rookies. Unfortunately, playing the Yankees and Red Sox a total of 38 times will make it tough to even think about winning 70. At least young players like Scott Kazmir, Carl Crawford, Rocco Baldelli, and Delmon Young (when he's not throwing bats) are fun to watch.
