BlueJaysRant Reader Poll: What American League East Team Would You Like to Take Over as GM?
The American League East is generally considered the toughest division in baseball. The two most dominant franchises (Yankees and Red Sox) seemed to have a death grip over the other teams (Rays, Orioles and Jays), but now the landscape is starting to change…a bit.
New York Yankees: They have the money, the cache and the star players we all want - but the heart and soul of the team is slowly fading. Age is catching up to Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada. Alex Rodriguez has always been a me first player, despite recent good behaviour, what do you think he will do when he passes 600 career homeruns and is on the march for the all-time record? I say fall into his old selfish ways. Finally, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera are also closer to the end, than the beginning of their illustrious careers.
Boston Red Sox: The writing is on the wall…their team has shown this year that they are falling behind the free-spending Yankees (again) and that the Rays are too talented in every position to keep pace with. Their first string starters have all experienced long-term injuries (Josh Beckett, Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, Victor Martinez, Mike Lowell, Jason Varitek) and their other stars (David Ortiz, Tim Wakefield and Jonathan Papelbon) aren’t living up to the hype. Although, Josh Bard looks legit to replace Papelbon as closer, Jon Lester is as solid a pitcher as you can get, Clay Buchholz seems to have finally broken through and looks very good, while Adrian Beltre has remade himself into a top-tier 3B.
Tampa Bay Rays: Solid depth at every position, and a pitching staff in the majors and minors that can compete with any MLB team. The problem is that some of those players (e.g. Carl Crawford) are ready to get hefty pay days – something Tampa Bay still can’t do. Also, the likes of a B.J Upton, Jason Bartlett and even Ben Zobrist have regressed or can’t remain consistent. So, the Rays will continue to build’em and eventually ship’em…to another team.
Baltimore Orioles: They can compete financially with the Red Sox and Yankees to some degree (when they need to), however, poor showings by their top pitching prospects (Brian Matusz and Chris Tillman) has seriously derailed any opportunity to be competetive. Furthermore, Miguel Tejada, Brian Roberts and Kevin Millwood are starting to show their age or prowess for injury far too often. On the plus side, Adam Jones seems to be on pace to repeat his break-out season and possibly surpass his offensive numbers from last year.
Toronto Blue Jays: The Jays are never good enough to spend the money they want, in order to compete with New York and Boston. Their perennial third place position has been overtaken by either Tampa Bay or Boston (depending on the year). The Jays traded their former staff Ace (Roy Halladay) and are slowly turning over a roster of older players for a new batch of young guns. They still have a long road ahead before they can compete with the other teams in the AL East, but with young players such as Yunel Escobar, Travis Snider, Brett Wallace, Adam Lind and Aaron Hill on offense, and Kyle Drabek, Ricky Romero, Brandon Morrow, Brett Cecil and Shawn Marcum on the mound, the future is bright.
Despite our take on the AL East the question reamins…
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