The New, More Mature AL East
For the better part of the the last 20 years, the American League East has played battleground to two of the most popular and historic teams of all-time. The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox vicious rivalry cast into shadow the division’s lesser members, hoarding headlines and prime time TV slots without remorse. This year though, things are different. The division is exciting top to bottom (perhaps especially at the bottom); for one reason or another, every team is must-watch baseball.
Dingers
Much can, and has, been said about the New York Yankees – hitting dingers every night; seesawing with the LA Dodgers for the best record in baseball; etc. Come for history; stay for the crazy fact that D.J. Lemahieu has actually been their best player.
Shame
Meanwhile, the mighty Boston Red Sox, reigning World Series champions, suck – 17 games out of the Division race and 7.5 back from the second Wild Card, with about two months left. But, they still feature exciting players up and down, notably: Rafael Devers‘ is insane – he recently collected 8 consecutive hits, including 5 doubles and a homer…; and Chris Sale is still ridiculous – his FIP is remarkably a full run lower than his ERA, and he just became the fastest pitcher ever to 2000 strikeouts.
And then things get really interesting
The Tampa Bay Rays are surprising people, in surprising fashion. Last year’s brief experiment with The Opener appears to have turned into a full-fledged organizational philosophy, and the franchise looks to have a great chance to make the postseason – more on the viability of a deep playoff run here.
Even if this isn’t the year though, the Rays also happen to have one of the biggest upcoming future stars in their system in Wander Franco, a phenom shortstop who might make it to the majors at some point next year. Franco is considered by both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline as the #1 prospect in the minors, and reminds some scouts of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., thanks in part to his incredible offensive approach. Wander Franco has had more extra base hits this year than strikeouts (!!!) – despite playing against competition that is 3 to 4 years older than him – and is currently hitting .328 and slugging .510 on the season… at 18… in A+.
The Kids!
The Toronto Blue Jays, despite having a losing record this year, might be the most exciting team to watch in the entire division. Bo Bichette is leaving scorched earth in his wake as he destroys MLB pitching over his first few weeks in the show – it took until his 17th game for his career extra base hits tally to fall below his career games played mark. All that noise comes on the heels of Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s callup – which was followed by a freakish showing in the Home Run Derby, and solid Major League production thereafter. Add in Cavan Biggio to the mix, and Toronto sports the offspring of three former MLB stars (two Hall of Famers), and they even have one more down in the minors who is slowly starting to make a name for himself as well in Griffin Conine.
Future in the making
If all that wasn’t enough to keep you engaged, there is one more team in the AL East whose season merits attention: The Baltimore Orioles. While the O’s are truly, truly bad, they aren’t even the worst team in the bigs this year (h/t Detroit Tigers). And behind the scenes, Baltimore is slowly starting to put pieces together. Two of their last three first round picks made the Futures game this year in D.L. Hall and Grayson Rodriguez, and the Orioles drafted Adley Rutschman, an offensive catcher out of Oregon State, with the numer one overall pick in this year’s draft.
Rutschman helped OSU to the College World Series as a sophomore, and earned most outstanding player that year, and in 2019 he won the Golden Spikes award, given to the best amateur player in the country. He is considered to be the best can’t miss draft prospect since Bryce Harper in 2010.
Balance can be exciting, and look different than you might expect
As you can see, the AL East has a bright future – without even mentioning the likes of Aaron Judge, Mookie Betts, Giancarlo Stanton, Blake Snell, or J.D. Martinez. With all of those guys in the mix, plus the talent that should be coming of age in the next few years, the American League East promises to remain one of the best performing, and most exciting divisions to watch, over the next few years.
