Beast of the East: Can anyone knock Boston off the top spot?

Just like the Orioles, the Boston Red Sox failed to win a playoff game in 2016. But unlike the Orioles, the Red Sox did use an 11-game September winning streak to surge to an American League East division championship.

After finishing in last place in 2014 and 2015, Boston won 93 games last season and took the division by four games over both Baltimore and Toronto. Now that Boston is back on top in the AL East, the Red Sox look very much poised to stay there for a while.

It would be very hard to pick against them to win again this year and I don't expect to see many do that. Boston has a strong front office and farm system, a ballpark that is full every night, a manager that has led the team to two AL East championships in four years and a big budget to spend for talent. During the winter, they added left-hander Chris Sale, one of the best pitchers in the game and Rick Porcello, a 22-game winner and last season's Cy Young winner, may now be no better than their No. 3 starter.

More notes on the team:

* Boston led the majors with 878 runs scored in 2016, the 10th-highest single-season total in franchise history. The Red Sox scored five or more runs 93 times, most in MLB and went 78-15 (.839) in such games.

* Boston led the majors in batting average (.282), OBP (.348), slugging (.461), OPS (.810) and doubles (343).

* The Red Sox ranked second in the majors with a +184 run differential. The only other AL team with a run differential of at least +100 was Cleveland (+101).

* Six regulars in their lineup produced an OPS of .802 or better, three drove in 111 runs or more and four hit 25 or more home runs.

While Boston does lose retired DH David Ortiz, who had an OPS of 1.021 and drove in 127 runs, they return the young trio of 24-year-olds in right fielder Mookie Betts and shortstop Xander Bogaerts and 26-year-old center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. to lead the team for years to come. To that mix they add outfielder Andrew Benintendi, who is rated as the No. 1 prospect in baseball by Baseball America, MLB.com and ESPN.

Is this an embarrassment of riches? Will they embarrass the rest of the AL East for the forseeable future?

So, after all this, are there any reasons for Orioles fans to have hope that Boston may not be as good as it looks on paper?

Yes, there are a few. For one, Ortiz is gone. Also, Porcello produced easily a career year, one where his ERA dropped from 4.92 to 3.15 and his career ERA is 4.20. And of course, a few players might be expected to see a drop-off in their stats and 2016 production.

Two players that may not fall off and more likely may be headed for stardom, if not there already, are Betts and Bogaerts. Both had huge years last season, but they were already on the rise by 2015.

But from 2013-2015, Bradley Jr. had a slash line of .213/.290/.349 and homered 10 times in 785 plate appearances. Then last year he hit .267/.349/.486 and mashed 26 home runs.

We know Dustin Pedroia, a four-time All-Star is pretty good. But his .825 OPS was his highest since 2011 and his .318 batting average was his highest since 2008.

First baseman Hanley Ramirez hit .286/.361/.505 last year with 30 homers, 111 RBIs and an OPS of .866. That was the most homers he has hit in a year since 2008 and a career-high in RBIs. Also, just once since 2009 had he posted an OPS that good.

Some of these players may regress somewhat and the team's offense overall may as well, especially coming off such a strong season with the bats. But Sale and David Price, should Price improve on his 3.99 ERA, could more than make up for any offensive fall-off.

Boston looks very good and you have to struggle to find some potential chinks in the armor. When 162 games have been played, will the Red Sox look as good in the standings as they do right now on paper, before a single game has been played?