MPDSports - AL East Preview 2018 The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

This is a very odd preview for the AL East. This division is a mess of teams with all of those teams with serious flaws.

On an overall basis, this is how I view the Division:

1. Boston Redsox
2. New York Yankees
3. Toronto Blue Jays
4. Baltimore Orioles
5. Tampa Bay Rays

You can simply cross off the Tampa Bay Rays, the pitching staff is looking to average a 6 ERA per game, the on the field team looks like a minor league team. I have to be honest with you, I do not know how they are going to win a game this year. I am not joking...

The Baltimore Orioles will be hitting a baseball this year, the main problem will be other teams are going to be hitting the baseball as well. The pitching staff is going to give up at least 5 runs a game. You are talking about winning games slugging it out every single game. If they can fix the starting pitching, they could get to the playoffs, otherwise, they are just out of it by the All-Star break.

I like Toronto this year. The issue is that the team has on the field players that are injury prone. They also have gaps on the field, where you have some great players mixed in with players that do not deserve to be on the field. It is a mixed bag, I see them scoring runs but not slugging their way to a win. The starting pitching should average 4 runs a game, that is probably the 2nd best in the division. Even thou, this is the 2nd best pitching staff in the AL East, I think this team will have issues scoring enough runs to actually win games.

The Yankees will crush the baseball this year. They do have gaps in the field primarily with 1st base and the DH. They can fix one of those positions but not both, at least from what I see currently on the team. The main issue with the team is the starting pitching. Tanaka and Sabathia will never make it through the entire season and with the pitching staff as it is now, they have too. In my mind, this is the only reason why the Yankees will not win the AL East. One thing to keep in mind, if the starting pitching implodes and that is possible, they will finish well out of the playoff race.

The Redsox is the best of the flawed teams in the AL East. The on the field team should be solid, both offensively and defensively. The pitching should be in the 3 to 3.5 ERA range for the year and that will be best in the AL East. Issues will exist during the season. Alex Cora will most likely fail this year being the manager for this team of crybabies, but it should not hold the team back, on an overall basis.