Breaking down the pitching staffs in the AL East

The Rays rotation is deep and returning to health. The Yankees have a trumped-up bullpen, a candidate to be the best in baseball. The Red Sox signed David Price to anchor their rotation and Craig Kimbrel to be their closer. The Blue Jays have Drew Storen, the former Nationals closer. The Orioles have a strong bullpen, but rotation questions.

Here's how the American League East pitching shapes up as the mid-Atlantic shovels snow and dreams of watching live batting practice:

BALTIMORE ORIOLES

Rotation: How much are the Orioles going to miss the steadiness of LHP Wei-Yin Chen, who made 117 starts for the Orioles during his four years in Baltimore? The Orioles need another pitcher, but they also need improvement from within. ... RHP Chris Tillman is capable of leading the rotation, but he's coming off a bad year where his command was inconsistent. He gave up more hits than innings pitched, leaving him with a 4.99 ERA. In three previous seasons, Tillman's ERAs were 2.93, 3.71 and 3.34. ... RHP Miguel Gonzalez slumped to 4.91 in 2015, but that can be attributed injury. If he's healthy, Gonzalez is expected to pitch well. ...At 24, RHP Kevin Gausman gets his chance to pitch from start to finish in the big league rotation with no back-and-forth trips to Triple-A Norfolk. He's one of the best young pitchers around, and this could his breakout year. ... RHP Ubaldo Jimenez is likely to be dominant and frustrating at the same time, just as he has his entire career. ... At this point, prospects RHPs Tyler Wilson and Mike Wright will battle for the No. 5 spot. Both have talent. Both are unproven.

Bullpen: The relief corps is a strength, especially with RHP Darren O'Day signing a four-year contract to stay. O'Day is coming off his best season with a 1.52 ERA and 11 strikeouts per nine innings. At 33, can O'Day repeat the performance? That's asking a lot. ... LHP Zach Britton had a 1.92 ERA and 36 saves in 2015 as closer. ... The Orioles had the best bullpen ERA in the division last season at 3.21. In addition to O'Day, there's RHP Brad Brach, Chaz Roe, Jason Garcia and Mychal Givens, and LHPs Brian Matusz and T.J. McFarland.

BOSTON RED SOX

Rotation: The Red Sox spent $217 million to get LHP David Price, 30, one of baseball's best pitchers in the last six seasons and who finished second to Houston's Dallas Keuchel in the AL Cy Young voting. Price will be pitching for his third AL East team. RHPs Rick Porcello, Clay Buchholz and Eduardo Rodriguez will join him in the rotation. Price, a yearly Cy Young candidate, will take the pressure of Porcello, a $20 million pitcher who pitches better when he's lower in the rotation. ... Buchholz has constant injury issues, but if he's healthy, he's good. The Red Sox have pitching depth, so they would love to trade him. ... Rodriguez, the former Orioles farmhand, had a 3.85 ERA last season and arguably was the Red Sox's best pitcher. ... RHP Joe Kelly could either starter or work out of the bullpen, and the team likes the progress of prospect LHP Henry Owens.

Bullpen: The Red Sox bullpen, one of the worst in the AL last season, needed a makeover, and new GM Dave Dombrowski took care of that. The two new guys are all-world closer Craig Kimbrel, acquired from San Diego, and setup man Carson Smith, acquired from Seattle after striking out 11.8 batters per nine innings with a 2.31 ERA as a rookie. The bullpen will also have Koji Uehara (2.23 ERA), Junichi Tazawa and Robbie Ross.

NEW YORK YANKEES

Rotation: The usually big-spending Yankees saved their money and have gambled that their suspect rotation will be good enough. ...There are questions at every spot: Can LHP CC Sabathia, who spent October in alcohol rehabilitation, pitch more than the 160 innings he pitched last season? It's the same question for RHP Michael Pineda, who came from Seattle in a trade as a potential ace. He's been derailed by injuries. ... Is RHP Nathan Eovaldi a legit 14-game winner, considering his ERA was 4.20? ... Will RHP Luis Severino, who had a 2.89 ERA in 11 starts last season as a rookie, continue to progress? Of course, how long RHP Masahiro Tanaka's elbow will hold out is going to be an ongoing story.

Bullpen: The Yankees are taking a page from the World Series champion Royals' playbook, hoping a strong bullpen makes up for an iffy rotation. The Yankees were 66-3 when leading after six innings last season, and this season they'll be better. They added lefty Aroldis Chapman from the Reds to close and he'll be set up by RHPs Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances. Chapman averaged 15.7 strikeouts per nine last season, Miller 14.6 and Betances 14.3. Combined, they had 347 strikeouts in 211 innings last season.

TAMPA BAY RAYS

Rotation: Injuries to starters hurt the Rays in 2015, and their projected rotation started 82 of 162 games. But, if healthy, the Rays have the potential to contend, thanks to what could be a dominating rotation. ... LHPs Matt Moore (Tommy John) and Drew Smyly (shoulder) finished strong in 2015 and, along with RHPs Chris Archer and Jake Odorizzi, give the Rays a formidable first four. ... The Rays expect RHP Alex Cobb, who had a 2.82 ERA combined in 2013-14 before Tommy John surgery, back in August or September. ... Throw in the depth provided by RHPs Erasmo Ramirez (3.65 ERA) and Blake Snell, the team's best pitching prospect, and it's easy to see that if the Rays get a lineup that scores an average amount of runs, they are going to be tough to beat.

Bullpen: The closer is Brad Boxberger, an All-Star who saved 41 of 47 games. Boxberger, though, pitched well in the first half (3.25 ERA) and not so well in the second half (4.33).

TORONTO BLUE JAYS

Rotation: Two lefties -Price (Boston) and Mark Buehrle (retired) - are gone, so that leaves Marcus Stroman, 24, with 157 big-league innings on his resume, as the guy replacing Price as the staff ace. Last season, when the Blue Jays used 12 different starters, Stroman was limited to four regular-season starts because of a knee injury. But he was the Blue Jays' Game 5 starter in the Division Series versus Texas. ... The rest of the rotation includes Marco Estrada, R.A. Dickey and newly signed J.A. Happ. Estrada won 13 games last season with a 3.13 ERA. Dickey, the knuckleballer, was inconsistent with command, but he won 11 games with 3.91 ERA. ... Happ, a lefty, returns to Toronto after pitching well for the Pirates (1.85 ERA in 11 starts) last season. ... RHP Aaron Sanchez, one of the Blue Jays' top starting prospects who worked out of the bullpen last season, is the leading candidate for the No. 5 spot. Another possibility is RHP Jesse Chavez, who had seven wins and a 4.18 ERA for Oakland last season.

Bullpen: The Blue Jays haven't said if Drew Storen will close or not, but Storen says he will do whatever the Blue Jays ask. Chances are the Blue Jays will go into spring training with Storen and lefty Brett Cecil setting up RHP Roberto Osuna, who had a 0.92 WHIP and a 2.58 ERA while saving 20 games last season as a 20-year-old.