Hey CT. Another great OU get. OT...How 'bout that AL East? Things getting considerably tighter.
The AL East is not very strong, especially with NY and Boston in decline. I think when the smoke clears, Toronto and Baltimore will be possible playoff teams. Tampa needs hitting. The 2015 Yankees are dying with old, brittle and overpaid players. At the same time however, the future for NY has not looked this good in 20 years as the farm system is showing some life.
I don't know, CT. This year especially, the AL East appears to be dominant in the AL - if not all of MLB - with their intra-division competition. Pitching, defense, power bats, and timely hitting are the hallmarks for success and all the top 4 in the East have them. If the Red Sox can get their bullpen going strong, it could be an exciting summer in the East.
Don't look now but the top 4 teams in the AL East are within 1 game of 1st place. NY and TB are tied for 1st (NY is actually a few percentage points ahead), O's are a half game out and the BJ's are 1 out. Baltimore plays the 2nd game of their doubleheader tonight and if we beat the Tribe, there will be a 3-way tie for 1st. The top 4 all have at least 40 wins each.
I like the Yankees chances this year especially when they get Miller back. He and Betances at the end of the bullpen are electric. Sabathia is still serviceable and Nova's back. If Pineda can get it going again, they have a solid chance. The Yankee bullpen is strong enough that the starters only need to go 6 innings and, in some cases, 5. If the position players can stay healthy - a big if - they're solid offensively especially when they get Elsbury back. Tex, McCann, and Arod are tearing it up so far.
Unless he reinvents himself, Sabathia is done. His decline is hurting the team.....and so far, outside of Betances, there has not been a solid righty reliever to pitch the 6th or 7th innings to get to Betances and Miller. I'm hoping rookie Bryan Mitchell can solve that issue.
