2008 MLB season preview - AL East

I recently got a chance to do some freelance writing for Chalk, a sports content provider, and it ended up being listed in the Bodog fantasy section. I figured since it was published by a superpower site like that, it was worth posting on Cuzoogle. To help spice it up I decided to turn to baseball’s resident babe to help preview the upcoming season.

With the help of Alyssa Milano and her MLB clothing line, here is a break down of each division heading into the season. First up the AL East.

AL East

Boston Red Sox

The World Series champions decided to keep the group together that brought Boston another championship in 2007. The Red Sox have several key young players who gained valuable experience and should continue to grow in 2008. The value of these youngsters became apparent when they were not willing to use them as trade bait to acquire Johan Santana. Two of them, LHP Jon Lester and CF Jacoby Ellsbury, were huge factors in the World Series run. Ellsbury surged onto the scene in September and hit over .400 in the World Series. 3B Mike Lowell returns with a new contract as well as Cy Young Award runner-up Josh Beckett and closer Jonathan Papelbon. RHP Curt Schilling’s shoulder injury is a major concern heading into the new season. Sluggers David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez remain in the third and fourth spots and likely will follow Rookie of the Year Dustin Pedroia in the lineup. Even though the BoSox did not shake up the team, they are fortunate that the AL teams who added most of the best players are not in the East. This gives the club a strong chance to repeat what they did last season.

New York Yankees

All good things have to come to an end at some point. New York’s streak of nine straight division titles ended last season, but the Yanks did earn their 13th straight playoff berth. Being eliminated in the first round of the postseason once again began a whirlwind offseason. Joe Torre left after 12 years at the helm and landed with the Dodgers. Star 3B Alex Rodriguez, coming off his third AL MVP, came back to the Yankees and agreed to a $275 million, 10-year contract. The Yankees brought back three other key free agents in C Jorge Posada, LHP Andy Pettitte and closer Mariano Rivera. They pulled out of the Johan Santana sweepstakes because they didn’t want to part with young pitchers Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy. The bullpen bridge to Rivera still looks very shaky and it might be tempting to utilize Chamberlain in a relief role. Health is a big concern for veterans Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui, who is coming off knee surgery. The Yankees are hopeful that Jason Giambi can play some first base, otherwise they will have a logjam at the DH spot. Morgan Ensberg and Jason Lane will compete with Wilson Betemit and Shelley Duncan in the spring for playing time at first base.

Toronto Blue Jays

Fans of the Toronto Blue Jays start every baseball season feeling the same way. They know their team is good enough to win but they are stuck with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox in the AL East. Once again there is optimism around the Blue Jays’ camp, and even whispers that the club could be the surprise team this season. Newly acquired 3B Scott Rolen and SS David Eckstein give Toronto a new left side of the infield. They have a budding superstar in Alex Rios to go along with veterans Vernon Wells and Frank Thomas. On the hill the Jays have B.J. Ryan returning as closer after undergoing Tommy John surgery last spring. In 2007 the Jays were able to develop pitchers Dustin McGowan, Shaun Marcum and Jesse Litsch, while Casey Janssen emerged as a top setup man. Toss in the team’s ace Roy Halladay and the Jays have a strong rotation. The one thing that plagues Toronto every season however is injuries. The team did not lose much in the offseason except for guys like Troy Glaus and Josh Towers who generally had more of a negative impact on the club overall. If the Jays can stay healthy in 2008 they could very well put up a fight for a postseason spot.

Baltimore Orioles

The rebuilding of the Baltimore Orioles franchise is in full swing but fans may not be so interested in near future. The club has already traded two of its star attractions from 2007, SS Miguel Tejada and LHP Erik Bedard and dealing 2B Brian Roberts remains a possibility. With these moves the O’s are trying to fix years of attempting to stay competitive by signing second-tier free agents. By unloading Tejada and Bedard for prospects, Club president Andy MacPhail is now committed to rebuilding through youth and has essentially sacrificed the 2008 season to build for the next ten years. The Orioles begin camp looking to fill out a very weak starting rotation. They have no closer and no adequate replacement for Tejada, whose departure leaves a hole at SS and the cleanup spot. LF Luke Scott who was acquired in the Tejada trade, will get his first opportunity to be an everyday player and should add to his better-than-average statistics as the Astros’ part-time left fielder a year ago. Baltimore is essentially starting the 2008 season with no hope of ending the franchise-record run of 10 straight losing seasons.

Tampa Bay Rays

One of the biggest moves the Rays made since the 2007 season ended will have no influence over fantasy stats or the team’s record. The Rays started a busy offseason by dropping the word ”Devil” from their nickname, rolling out new uniforms and adding new team colors. The club also pulled the trigger on a major deal that sent OF Delmon Young to Minnesota for RHP Matt Garza and SS Jason Bartlett. These moves should improve the starting pitching and defense right away. Tampa Bay also traded OF Elijah Dukes, upgraded the bullpen by signing Troy Percival and acquired 3B Willy Aybar. The Rays are looking for Aybar to hold down third base until top prospect Evan Longoria is ready to play in the majors. Akinori Iwamura is shifting from third base to second this season. He could make a huge difference if he becomes more comfortable at the plate in only his second year in the majors. Iwamura hit only seven home runs and had just 38 extra-base hits in his first season since coming over from Japan. The Rays are confident they are headed in the right direction even though they have never won more than 70 games in a season. Unless the starting pitching and bullpen improve dramatically, it figures to be another long season in an always-tough division.

Cuzoogle’s order of finish

1. Boston
2. Toronto
3. New York
4. Baltimore
5. Tampa Bay

Who do you like?

Coming soon……the AL Central.

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