We're staying out east today before heading to the heartland this weekend, but today we're looking at one of the more competitive divisions in a lot of recent memory. Let's take a look at the AL East.
1. Toronto Blue Jays
Last year: 93-69 (1st in AL East), lost in ALCS; At COAS Prediction
I was bound to get one team right again since I have the last couple of years. The Jays finally arrived last year behind the league's best offense, and they return pretty much everyone including reigning AL MVP Josh Donaldson, biggest trade deadline acquisition in Troy Tulowitzki, and king of the bat flips in Jose Bautista. If Marco Estrada's stay on the DL is short and Marcus Stroman continues to develop into a top of the line starter, the Jays are going to be really scary.2016 Prediction: 93-69
Last year: 87-75 (2nd in AL East), lost in Wild Card Game; 16 wins above COAS Prediction
The Yankees are an interesting blend of older guys with some young talent. The addition of Starlin Castro to play second will bring a good young middle of the infield to go along with Didi Gregorius, and there is still a lot of power in the meat of the order with Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez. The Bombers are going to be in the mix with that lineup, and now it's just a question of can the rotation deliver.
2016 Prediction: 85-77, Wild Card
Last year: 78-84 (5th in AL East), Missed playoffs; 13 wins below COAS Prediction
Boston has finished last in the East three times in the last four years, with the exception being their 2013 World Series team. Baseball is weird. The Red Sox do have David Price to lead their rotation, which will help them out, but there are question marks in the lineup. Guys like Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts are young question marks, Hanley Ramirez isn't the guy he used to be, and Pablo Sandoval is a big dude now. The addition of Price helps, but not a ton.
2016 Prediction: 83-79
Last year: 80-82 (4th in AL East), Missed playoffs; 6 wins above COAS Prediction
You can pretty much always expect the pitching in Tampa to be really good, and Chris Archer at the top of the rotation will ensure that. The lineup is a bit of a question mark though. Evan Longoria seems to be stalling a little bit, and there's some interesting potential in the lineup in guys like Corey Dickerson, but it remains to be seen if they can contribute in a meaningful way at the big league level.
2016 Prediction: 78-84
Last year: 81-81 (3rd in AL East), Missed playoffs; 2 wins below COAS Prediction
It's weird: I like the rotation here with the addition of Yovani Gallardo, and there are some excellent pieces like Manny Machado over at third base as well as new DH Pedro Alvarez. Matt Weiters is a solid catcher, albeit a guy coming off of an injury, and Adam Jones is a very good center fielder. There are a ton of other question marks though, including Chris Davis. He has a lot of power, but he's only a career .255 hitter after hitting .262 last year. They aren't going to be awful, but I don't know that they'll compete for a playoff spot.
2016 Prediction: 76-86
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