Many readers on this and other blogs have mentioned two things that fuel their optimism for the Orioles in 2011: The O's have improved while several American League East teams have not.
While I, like most of you, feel the Orioles can be much improved with their additions in the field, their young pitching, their strong finish and a full season with Buck Showalter, I am not yet willing to concede that this division is starting to lose its clout.
No doubt, right now, Boston is the clear...Many readers on this and other blogs have mentioned two things that fuel their optimism for the
Orioles in 2011: The O's have improved while several American League East teams have not.
While I, like most of you, feel the Orioles can be much improved with their additions in the field, their young pitching, their strong finish and a full season with Buck Showalter, I am not yet willing to concede that this division is starting to lose its clout.
No doubt, right now,
Boston is the clear favorite. They lost
Adrian Beltre and
Victor Martinez, but added elite talents in
Adrian Gonzalez and
Carl Crawford. I don't see that as close to a wash as some have said.
I don't think Boston will miss Beltre or Martinez for a minute and when you add a healthy
Dustin Pedroia, the Red Sox look to be back on top. Were it not for the injuries, they could have won this division last year.
But some feel the other three clubs have all taken a step back. Save for re-signing
Derek Jeter and
Mariano Rivera, the
Yankees, shockingly, haven't done much.
Tampa Bay's lineup has lost
Carlos Pena, Crawford and
Jason Bartlett, while
Matt Garza is headed to the
Cubs while the
Blue Jays lost
Sean Marcum.
But Tampa has
Jeremy Hellickson ready to step into the rotation and maybe
Desmond Jennings will turn into the star many say he will. The Rays have a very fertile farm system and always seem to crank out good young talent.
Toronto still has a formidable and young rotation with the likes of
Ricky Romero,
Brett Cecil,
Brandon Morrow, possibly
Kyle Drabek and
Mark Rzepczynski, who are all around 25 or younger.
The Yankees lost out on
Cliff Lee and are still waiting on
Andy Pettitte to decide if he will return and continue to beat the Orioles until he's 50.
But, none of these clubs has to field a team today. New York is still plenty capable of pulling off a trade for a key starter and if doesn't happen soon, it still could in July.
I just think, while it looks like these clubs, especially Tampa, has fallen back, looks can be deceiving.
This is a division where the fourth place team won 85 games last summer. New York still has
Alex Rodriguez,
Mark Teixeira and
Robinson Cano in the middle of its lineup. Tampa's farm system got even better with the Garza deal. Toronto's young arms are underrated by some people.
Is the AL East still a beast? I say it is.
If these clubs are truly not as good and more vulnerable now, I'll believe it when I see it on the field.
