AL East preview - Can the Orioles hold off the Yankees & Blue Jays?
Yahoo Sports senior MLB analyst Jake Mintz takes a look ahead to the loaded division for 2024 — where four teams will likely challenge each other for the crown.
Video Transcript
JAKE MINTZ: Welcome to the behemoth, the American League East-- the unrelenting gauntlet, the SEC of MLB, the best division in baseball. Four of the league's top teams and the Boston Red Sox, and let's begin there, in Boston, where a lack of willingness to spend money on pitching has left this fan base quite frustrated. Rafael Devers and Triston Casas are reasons to tune in, but you can just catch the rest of the season on Netflix next year.
The Toronto Blue Jays did not get Shohei Ohtani, but they bring back a whole lot of talent from a team that went two and out in October. Can Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., take a step up? That's a big part of their 2024 season.
The Tampa Bay Rays-- it feels like every year they win 92 games, with Randy Arozarena, Yandy Díaz, and a bunch of guys you've never heard of. And they're just probably gonna do it again. One breakout candidate to know, though, is Taj Bradley, who could be the next great Rays pitcher, eventually traded for the next great Rays pitcher.
The New York Yankees-- [EXHALES] What is there to say? They went out and got Juan Soto over the winter, and expectations are high in the Bronx after the worst season the franchise has had since 1992. With Soto a free agent at the end of the season and Gerrit Cole able to opt out, this is a crucial year for the pinstripes, who assume, fairly, that they will be back in October.
And, of course, the defending American League East champions, the Baltimore Orioles-- so much young talent on the offensive side of the ball. But injuries have already hurt this rotation so far, in spring training. Do they have enough arms both in the rotation and the bullpen to make it through 162 games?
Just wait and find out. AL East-- ain't nothing like it. It just means more.
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