Who takes the AL East?

In the early part of this century, the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees owned the American League. It was a battle of wills and wallets, with jabs taken both with big mouths and right hooks. The pair dominated the headlines and standings, before the likes of the Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles finally showed up.

Heading into 2015, the American League East is wide open. Boston is getting most of the publicity as the favorite, although it is no sure bet. The Red Sox added Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval in free agency, but still have a very shaky rotation. Boston is featuring Rick Porcello and Clay Buchholz at the top, with Wade Miley, Justin Masterson and Joe Kelly filling out the bottom. In other words, not exactly the 1990’s Atlanta Braves.

Bovada has Boston installed as the favorite to win the division regardless at +190. Toronto is following at +275, with Baltimore (+350), New York (+450) and Tampa Bay (+700) rounding out the AL East.

The good news for the Red Sox is the competition. The Toronto Blue Jays are once again getting love from the pundits after landing superstar third baseman Josh Donaldson in a deal that sent Brett Lawrie and prospect to the Oakland Athletics. However, Toronto is still dangerously thin in arms. The staff had a terrific young arm in Marcus Stroman before he unfortunately tore his ACL on Tuesday. R.A. Dickey and Mark Buehrle are both older and declining, while Drew Hutchinson and Daniel Norris are unproven at best.

Baltimore is another team which will contend for the division title, but it takes on a different look. With manager Buck Showalter at the helm, the Orioles have a chance every year and do once more behind Adam Jones, Chris Davis, Manny Machado and the return of Adam Wieters. However, the loss of Nelson Cruz and Nick Markakis could be devastating, although the rotation could be sneaky good. Chris Tillman and Wei-Yen Chen are solid starters, albeit not a great 1-2 punch. The Orioles also need a big year out of Kevin Gausman, who is oozing with potential.

The Rays are not likely to contend after watching the team get stripped down last year. With the exodus of manager Joe Maddon, Tampa Bay will hard-pressed to be .500. The Rays have nice young pitching in Chris Archer, Alex Cobb and Drew Smyly, but not much else. The offense is underwhelming outside of Evan Longoria, and the bullpen is a mix of retreads.

Oddly enough, the Yankees look like a team which could lose 85-90 games with a few bad breaks. The pitching staff is a Masahiro Tanaka injury away from being a full-blown disaster, while the lineup is dotted with ancient bats in Mark Teixeira, Brian McCann, Alex Rodriguez, Carlos Beltran and Stephen Drew. It could be a rough year in the Bronx. Best-case scenario; this group wins 85 games.