The groundhog that claims to know about the weather told the world we still have about another month of winter. However, baseball didn’t get that memo and began to report to training camp as early as this week. Full team squads began Monday, and around the country teams are looking to defeat the defending World Series Champions, the San Francisco Giants.
Leading up to the start of baseball season, we will look extensively at each division in both conferences.
This week we start with the American League East.
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles didn’t do much in regards to free agency. Instead, the Orioles seemed to focus on securing the core team that they established when making their run to the World Series. The Orioles did add some help in Alexi Cassilla, Steve Pearce, and Randy Wolfe. They also picked up some minor league contracts to help during Spring Training. Again, by giving extensions to Weiters and Matusz, they secured the core of their young developing team for the future. They did lose some power in Reynolds and some pitching help in Stu Pomeranz but, ultimately, what mattered was keeping the younger core players intact.
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays did beaucoup work on revamping their already power-stacked team. They first took a step towards securing a stronger pitching rotation with R.A. Dickey and adding another hard-throwing pitcher from the Cleveland Indians in Esmil Rogers. The Jays then took a step towards adding more power by the likes of Melkey Cabrera and Andy Laroche. The Jays are making a case to finally taking first or second in the A.L East this season. They did not really lose anything but did what they could to get better, and get better is exactly what they did.
New York Yankees
The Yankees are the most frustrating team in the A.L. East. Essentially, New York added a little and lost a lot. They secured Ichiro Suzucki in the outfield but then lost Nick Swisher. They added a player that has diminishing contact but lost power and contact. They then tried to make up for that power with Kevin Youklis but again secured a player that happens to be declining in his career. The Yanks also secured contracts with Gardner, Rivera, and Petite. Essentially, the Yankees did nothing and seem to not be considered with not having a real every-day catcher and a pitching rotation that seems to be declining aside from the work horse, C.C. Sabathia. Keep expectations for the Yanks not quite low, but not high either.
Tampa Bay Rays
Tampa is a very interesting team this year. They, too, added very little, aside from taking a chance on Roberto Hernandez and Yunel Escobar. They did secure players Evan Longoria, James Shields, and Luke Scott. Essentially, there isn’t much to say about the Rays but to keep an eye on them and see what happens.
Boston Red Sox
What can you say about the Boston Red Sox? Disaster, perhaps? The Sox did little to nothing to make their team better. Instead, it seemed like they were ready to rebuilt in adding the likes of Dempster for a long term goal in mind. Instead, they add Shane Victorino, a declining and aging outfielder who seems to have lost a bit of pop to his bat. Honestly, the Sox will have a miserable year under new management in John Farrell. Expect misery, Sox fans; it’s the only thing that will fill Fenway this summer.