AL East
1. Baltimore Orioles
2. Tampa Bay Rays
3. Toronto Blue Jays
4. New York Yankees
5. Boston Red Sox
I took a long look at the AL East earlier this week in The 30, but I’ll reiterate a few key points. For starters: Take every preseason division prediction you can find and light it on fire. The reigning World Series champions are in last place, and will likely trade away Jake Peavy and possibly another veteran or two while gearing up for a 2015 turnaround effort. The Yankees have been living on borrowed time while fielding an injury-riddled rotation and shaky infield, and might have lost Tanaka, their best current player, for the year. The former first-place Blue Jays have fallen off a cliff, and the calls for GM Alex Anthopoulos to make a deal should probably subside now that Adam Lind, Edwin Encarnacion, and Brett Lawrie are hurt and the pitching lacks the depth of a true contender. The Rays also suffered crippling injuries, but now that they’re getting healthy, it’s no longer hard to imagine them climbing back above .500 and finishing with a respectable record. Joe Maddon’s team has been one of the best in baseball over the past month, going 20-11, and may not want to deal away ace David Price after all.
While Price could help lift the Rays to a second-place finish in one of the weakest AL East races we’ve seen in decades, it won’t be enough to catch the surging Orioles. Baltimore has parlayed big performances from 23-year-old starter Kevin Gausman, converted closer Zach Britton, jackpot free-agent signing Nelson Cruz, and the recently invigorated Manny Machado into the third-biggest division lead at the break, and GM Dan Duquette’s penchant for deals means reinforcements could soon arrive.
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