As today is the Opening Day for several other relevant, northeast teams, today is the beginning of a lot of the true storylines of the year. Chiefmost of which: who the hell is gonna end up winning the AL East this year?
Whoever just said Baltimore, sit down.
It's very clear that this season could come down to any one of the Blue Jays, Rays, Red Sox or Yankees. I am of the opinion that it will come down to the Blue Jays and Red Sox. The Rays are sparser than they've ever been, and the Yankees still haven't convinced me that the moves they made are geared specifically towards success and not just cost-cutting.
So, that leaves Toronto and Boston. The team that spent their way to max capacity vs. the team that refined what was already great.
I do think the Jays are gonna get a lot done this year. Guerrero-Espinal-Bichette-Chapman is a dangerous infield, and I think at least 3 or 4 guys are gonna hit 30+ home runs. Guerrero might even chase 40. What was impressive about not only this offseason but the tail end of last season is that the Jays have turned from a team with so many options for so many positions to a trimmer, more refined roster. Getting rid of Rowdy Tellez, Reese McGuire, Randal Grichuk and Corey Dickerson means that the starting nine is becoming more inevitable than anything, and the backups, like Cavan Biggio, Alejandro Kirk and Raisel Tapia, are showing smaller depth rather than chaotic depth.
Additionally, the Jays have also fixed the 'who the hell can start games?' dilemma of the last few seasons by getting Kevin Gausman, Yusei Kikuchi and Jose Berrios all locked up. Kikuchi is very much a 'he was incredible last year so let's jump on it' thing, but I do think he'll have some nice starts again this season. Hopefully he stays healthy. Same with Kevin Gausman, who has been excellent everywhere but Atlanta, and needs to prove he's back for the long haul with this Jays signing. And with Ryu likely beginning a downturn, I do think that Alek Manoah is going to step up more this season and slowly transition towards a higher spot. Berrios might be the ace, but Manoah might get some Cy Young votes this year.
I am expecting the Jays to nab first for a large portion of the year, but I'm still not counting out the Sox, who have that sort of concise, well-balanced team that I think could go all the way this year. The real battle might be between the two of them, and it'll be interesting as to how it shakes out.
Coming Tomorrow- A World Series hero that was wisely locked up for a more interesting second act.
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