We were watching one of the best dramas on television in the fall of 2013: the Major League Baseball playoffs. It was a star-studded cast, both hero and villain, on and off the field. Yankee-haters around the country rejoiced that they missed the playoffs for only the second time in 18 years. It didn't mean they weren't in our minds still.
Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez continued fighting his suspension tooth and nail while David Ortiz was putting up god-like numbers during the World Series. Both men, have been linked to performance-enhancing drugs. Both men, in most minds are known to be steroid users. Despite both being linked, A-Rod was the black-cloud hanging over our national pastime, as David Ortiz took a starring role as the “prince of baseball,” helping the Red Sox to their third championship in 10 years.
Which brings us to 2014. It seems New York was a tad upset about the 2013 results, so the spending spree ensued. Arguably the toughest division in baseball, here’s how it looks.
2014 AL East Preview:
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1st Place: Boston Red Sox (Division Champs: will lose in ALCS)
The defending World Series Champion Red Sox had everything fall into place in 2013. Everything second year manager (first with Boston) John Farrell touched, seemingly turned into gold. Now, coming off of the title, they lose outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury and Stephen Drew to free agency. They look to repeat as division champs on the strength of a great coaching staff and key veteran leaders.
Can 3B Will Middlebrooks and CF Jackie Bradley Jr. step up and fill holes left by Ellsbury and Drew?
One positive aspect of the Sox season last year was key youngsters such as third-baseman Xander Bogaerts stepping up. He’ll now be moving back to his natural position at SS with the hole left by Drew, and highly touted Will Middlebrooks will man the corner at third-base. Middlebrooks busted on to the scene in 2012 with a .288 BA and 15 HR’s in only 75 games played, according to CBS Sports. Last season he hit for a pedestrian .228 average in an injury-plagued season.
Jackie Bradley Jr. might hold more of the cards to how well this team turns out. Jacoby Ellsbury is a baseball-stud that no team can replace easily. Bradley will be looked at to not only fill the CF position but lead off as well. The organization loves him, but is the 23-year-old ready?
Will the bullpen duplicate their amazing 2012 season?
Koji Uehara was simply amazing in 2012. The 38 year-old man who failed in the Baltimore Orioles and Texas Rangers organizations came to Boston and played a role of closer to perfection during the fall. Baseball bullpen are a tricky business. They seem to fluctuate from season to season more than any other position, especially the closer position. The off-season signing of relief-pitcher Edward Mujica should help the pen out. He has experience closing some games for the pitching-rich St. Louis Cardinals.
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2nd Place: New York Yankees (Wild Card Berth: will lose in Wild Card Game)
What would George Steinbrenner have done at the end of the 2013 Yankee season? Exactly what they did, aside from keeping manager Joe Girardi. The Yanks finished fourth in the AL East with 85 wins and missed the playoffs for only the second time in 18 years. It is in-excusable in the eyes of the Yankee brass, and boy did they take action. We all know what they did in signing Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann, Jacoby Ellsbury and Masahiro Tanaka, but it’s what they haven’t done that will have them come up a little short again.
In an injury plagued, lost year, the Yanks were finally in a position to bring up young talent and see what they had. The problem was, they had no talent to bring up. What is killing this organization right now is the non-existent farm talent they possess. Sure signing big-name free agents can be a quick-fix for a season, but there’s more issues than what initially meets the eye here.
Can SP C.C. Sabathia re-gain his All-Star form?
Pitching wins championships, and the Yanks don’t have the depth. Many questions surround this roster especially in the rotation and bullpen. Tanaka is a complete wild card, and Sabathia’s diminished results in 2012 have fans worried. Sabathia has to figure out a way to reinvent himself with that decline in velocity we saw. Without him the Yanks would need a miracle in the rotation.
Can the older Yankees stay relatively healthy for a full season?
Not cultivating a minor-league system properly has its consequences. You must dig deep in the wallet and spend “Trump-like” money. You’re team ages too, and injuries are realistically more frequent. The Yankees haven’t been a relatively healthy team in a long time. Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira come off a season where they played a combined 27 games.
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3rd Place: Tampa Bay Rays (No Playoffs)
A tale of two franchises can be explained very easily through a trade made before the 2013 season. The Tampa Bay Rays sent starting pitcher James Shields to the Kansas City Royals for outstanding prospect outfielder Wil Myers. Baseball people everywhere freaked out. Nobody in their right mind could understand why the Royals did it, and neither can I. The Royals haven’t been a relevant team in over two-decades and the Rays are one of the best-run franchises in all of sports.
However, after making the playoffs four of the last six years, they once again have some major question marks. It will always be this way for them. Despite always shaping the best young talent in the game, the reality that they are a small-market team means they have to be smart, and choose who to let go wisely. Year after year manager Joe Maddon has these guys in contention.
Does RF Wil Myers take that quantum leap to super-star status?
As previously mentioned, the Rays got an absolute steal in acquiring this guy. He’s been one of the top hitting-prospects in all of baseball for a few years now, and made his MLB debut in 2013. Myers hit .293 with 15 homers in only 88 games and was named AL Rookie of the Year, notes Baseball Reference. The Rays are counting on him to take that next step and be that star they need next to Evan Longoria.
Can CF Desmond Jennings become an every-day player?
Because they are a small-market team they need to choose wisely. One of those choices was letting go of CF B.J. Upton prior to the 2013 season. What was their plan? Desmond Jennings. 2013 served as a cold reminder that plans don’t always work to perfection though. Jennings struggled mightily at the plate all season, despite the Rays desperately wanting him to assume that CF role. He hit a meager .252 for the season.
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4th Place: Baltimore Orioles (No Playoffs)
The 2014 Baltimore Orioles won’t be your average fourth place team. The AL East will be so good once again that the Orioles will content all season and still finish on the outside of the post-season. Much like the Rays, the Orioles for the past two seasons have built a strong organization will highly-touted up and coming youngsters. And also much like the Rays, their manager is the heart of the team.
Orioles Manager Buck Showalter has turned around a group that was completely irrelevant. A surprise playoff-berth in 2012 had the league on notice in 2013. Now in 2014 they look to take that next step with late off-season signing outfielder Nelson Cruz.
Will 2013 breakout star 1B Chris Davis duplicate that season in 2014?
If you were to look into the future for me and say Chris Davis will in fact stay on that same 2013 track, then the Orioles might be higher up on this list. This might be the biggest question in the entire division. Chris Davis has always had immense power-potential, but never put it together until last season. Expecting an injury or some sort of set-back from Davis in 2014 is natural.
Can the starting pitching hold up all season long?
Another player that stunned fans last season was starting pitcher Ubaldo Jiminez, for the Cleveland Indians. The 30-year old was rewarded with a nice, four-year $50 million contract from Baltimore. We all understand the starting pitching market commands that type of money these days, but it’s still a little head-scratching. At 30 years old, Jiminez has only enjoyed two outstanding seasons (2010 with Rockies and 2013 with Indians). The Orioles don’t have a ton of depth in the rotation right now so they must pray he gets the job done.
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5th Place: Toronto Blue Jays (No Playoffs)
Somebody has to be at the bottom of the list, and just as it was in 2013, it will be Toronto again. The Jays won only 74 games last year despite the acquisition of NL Cy-Young award winner R.A. Dickey. The Jays front-office has been very aggressive the past two seasons. They’ve hit the trade market acquiring established stars, yet it seems their going backwards.
Will knuckleballer R.A. Dickey get back to Cy-Young status?
R.A. Dickey was certainly one of those established stars that they Jays acquired prior to the 2013 season. In 2013 he came from nowhere to put together a Cy-Young award winning performance for the New York Mets. Re-inventing himself in his late 30’s, Dickey was on top of his game. That was until 2013 where he struggled in the American League. His 14 wins and 4.21 earned run average was not what Toronto was hoping for.
Will Brett Lawrie finally be the guy the Blue Jays envisioned?
One of the few big-time prospects the Jays didn’t trade away the past two seasons is third baseman Brett Lawrie. He was called to the majors near the end of the 2011 season and impressed immediately blasting nine home runs in only 43 games. Instant super-star status was placed on Lawrie. The problem is he’s not a super-star, at least not yet. The past two years haven’t been kind to the 24 year-old Canadian as injuries and poor play have been his only constant.