The Red Sox held off their bitter New York rivals down the stretch last year to take the AL East pennant before catching fire in October to claim their second World Series title in four years. Boston's youngsters played a huge part in the title run.
Rookie second baseman Dustin Pedroia, center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury and pitcher Clay Buchholz made up for down seasons from Manny Ramirez, J.D. Drew and Julio Lugo as the Red Sox returned to the World Series glory of 2004, just a season after missing the playoffs altogether.
The Yankees started a youth movement of their own when pithcers Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy were called up to the majors.
Hughes made 13 starts on the season for the Yanks, Chamberlain debuted in early August and quickly became a stopgap for the New York bullpen, and Kennedy was very effective in three September starts.
The changes continued in the offseason with a chain of events that ended with manager Joe Torre in Los Angeles and former Yankees backstop Joe Girardi taking his place in New York.
This offseason it was assumed that the winner of the Johan Santana sweepstakes would become the favorite in the AL East.
However, Santana was snagged by the Mets, and as a result the Red Sox and Yankees look almost identical to last year. That can't a bad thing as the teams teams combined to win 190 games in 2007.
The inability of the Red Sox or Yankees to land Santana led to an unusually quiet offseason in the division. Tampa Bay's Matt Garza may be the division's most significant newcomer, but his addition shouldn't be underestimated.
Predictions
1. Boston Red Sox
Beginning the season without Curt Schilling and Josh Beckett is far from ideal, but a concerted effort by GM Theo Epstein to keep last year's World Series team intact makes Boston the favorite East.
Combining chemistry with incredible talent, the Red Sox lineup is a thing of beauty. Comeback seasons from Manny Ramirez, J.D. Drew and Julio Lugo could mean even more offensive production in Beantown. That's a scary thought for the rest of the American League.
David Ortiz enters 2008 as the Red Sox most consistent force with five consecutive 30 home run, 100-RBI seasons and most clutch hitter after hitting .358 with runners in scoring position last season.
Look for breakout seasons from both second-year man Daisuke Matsuzaka and young lefty Jon Lester in 2008, helping pave the way to a deep October run for the BoSox.
2. New York Yankees
It goes without saying the Yankees lineup led by reigning AL MVP Alex Rodriguez will score runs in bunches, but questions remain about the health of their aging starters Mike Mussina and Andy Pettitte.
Chien-Ming Wang, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy are good enough to shoulder much of the load in New York, which means Mussina and Pettitte simply need to focus on staying healthy and consistent.
That still may be too much to ask of the aging pitchers, in which case the Yanks could be forced to shift sensational youngster Joba Chamberlain into the rotation from the bullpen.
The Yanks will score a lot of runs, play good defense and have the potential to put an adequate pitching rotation together if they can avoid the injury bug.
All that combined means the last season in Yankee Stadium should be an exciting one as the Joe Girardi era begins in the Bronx.
3. Toronto Blue Jays
Toronto again has the distinction of being the best team in baseball with absolutely no chance at winning its own division.
If the stars align in Toronto and A.J. Burnett is able to last an entire season, the Blue Jays will have one of the top rotations in the AL. Dustin McGowan is developing well and has huge upside while ace Roy Halladay should once again anchor the staff and provide over 200 innings.
Scott Rolen could add some much needed power to the middle of the lineup, and second basemen Aaron Hill slid under the radar last season but is quickly turning into one of the top all around young middle infielders in baseball.
4. Tampa Bay Rays
The Rays cleaned house and rid themselves of enigmas Elijah Dukes and Delmon Young in order to create a mature clubhouse atmosphere more conducive to winning.
They Rays got very little in return for Dukes but got solid return on Young by adding capable shortstop Jason Bartlett and starter Matt Garza from Minnesota.
Their core of talent is strong with Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton and Carlos Pena leading the offense and Garza teaming with 2007 AL strikeout leader Scott Kazmir and James Shields to form a strong front end of the rotation.
There is no question the Rays are finally headed in the right direction, but a shaky bullpen and a lack of depth will prevent 2008 from being the breakout season in Tampa.
5. Baltimore Orioles
This was a bad, bad baseball team in 2007. Take away ace Erik Bedard and all-star shortstop Miguel Tejada and conventional wisdom leaves you with an even lousier ball club this season.
Nick Markakis is a star in the making, but he could struggle in '08 with less protection in the lineup.
Outside of Markakis, there is not much to look forward to in Baltimore this season.
AL East MVP:
David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox
AL East Cy Young:
Phil Hughes, New York Yankees
AL East Manager of the Year:
Terry Francona, Boston Red Sox
Comments
Michael Fulton commented, on March 26, 2008 at 4:45 p.m.:
How can you claim that Phil Hughes will win the Cy Young? Honestly, what has he proven in the majors? Dustin McGowan has a much better shot at winning the Cy Young, and that won't even happen. I understand that Americans don't think of the Blue Jays as a true contender, but when you go through their line up, how could you not give them the benefit of the doubt? They have a more proven starting rotation then any team in the East. Each guy started at least 20 games last year, whereas New York and Boston are both using guys that have played only a handful of games. I really think Toronto will prove so many people wrong this year.
bosox homer commented, on March 26, 2008 at 10:56 p.m.:
this column makes me happy.
ovnwoervubhw commented, on March 26, 2008 at 11:49 p.m.:
LEEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOY JENKINSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Weston commented, on March 27, 2008 at 1:26 a.m.:
I predicted Phil Hughes to be the AL East Cy Young, not the AL Cy Young. Those predictions will come this weekend. Dustin is a nice pitcher, I agree.
Eric T commented, on March 27, 2008 at 1:45 a.m.:
I agree fully with Michael. As an admitted Jays fan, I have spent far too long this offseason reading AL East predictions that mention the Jays as merely an afterthought. Though losing Casey Janssen is a pretty big blow to suffer early on, both the starting rotation and bullpen are still very strong. What many people forget is that for a good part of the beginning of last season, we fans up north had to suffer through watching a slew of poor starting pitching from Tomo Ohka, Josh Towers and even Victor Zambrano. However, they were eventually replaced (quite successfully) by the current 3-4-5 of McGowan, Marcum and Litsch. With these three starting for a full season, I expect much better results earlier on.
As for the bullpen, we did lose Janssen and B.J Ryan won't be starting the season, but Accardo showed last year he can handle closing very well and also former set-up man Brandon League, who sat out all last year, seems to have regained at least some of his power and also a lot better control.
The position players and depth are possibly better than ever, with the aquisitions of Rolen (hopefully back soon), Eckstein, Shannon Stewart, Scutaro and Barajas. With John McDonald's magic glove available to protect late-game leads, this group can be scary.
Factor in that core guys are returning from injuries such as Vernon Wells, Lyle Overbay and Greg Zaun, if all goes well the Jays can indeed take the Wild Card, if not the Division.
About the Cy Young, there is no way Hughes will win. Not enough experience and the hitters in the division are way too good to let the rookie excel. Book it. If I had to wager a guess, I would say that Roy Halladay will be battling with Chien-Ming Wang for top pitcher in the East, as it seems Beckett's back might be fairly serious.
That's my two cents. Love it or leave it.
fulton sucks sucks commented, on March 27, 2008 at 7:25 p.m.:
hey bozo, the jays won the world series in back to back years, 92, 93...probably the same time your whore of a mother was getting laid at a college frat party by 2 drunk rugby players. the reason you're bi-polar and handicapped is because of the 2 competing drunk cumshots that created your f&#!ed-up mutant brain.
fulton sucks sucks sucks commented, on March 28, 2008 at 1:05 a.m.:
suck it!
wow commented, on March 31, 2008 at 11:25 p.m.:
this is sad