2009 American League East Forecast

Visit All World All Sports

By Digger

Baseball 2009 is here! Everyday this week I will be posting my predictions on a division by division, team by team format. First up, American League East:

New York Yankees (Mgr. Joe Girardi)
It’s going to be a big year in New York. The New Yankee Stadium debuts this season. The Bronx Bombers attempt to rebound after missing the playoffs for the first time since 1994. Yanks were busy adding new faces this winter. CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira & AJ Burnett are the prized (and very well paid) acquisitions.

Rotation: Sabathia, Burnett, Wang, Pettitte, Chamberlain. Set up: undecided. Closer: RiveraFront 4 starters are locked in and will give solid quality starts. Sabathia, Burnett & Wang could all be Cy Young candidates. Pettitte is a NY favorite and still has some gas left in his tank. Joba Chamberlain as a starting pitcher is a tremendous mistake. The Yanks best World Series teams had lights out bullpens. Rivera is recovering from off season surgery and there’s no clear cut set up man. Joba + Rivera are the Yanks best option. Joba should be in the process of being groomed as Yanks closer of the future. Instead, he’s being moved into the rotation. Big mistake! He walks too many hitters as a starter… while striking fear into batters coming out of the pen in late game situations. Bullpen assignments to be determined this spring. Catcher Jorge Posada battled nagging injuries last year and must rebound to handle this strong staff.

Around the Horn: Teixeira, Cano, Jeter, Rodriguez (out until June). Baseball’s best infield? Mark Teixeira will prove to be the best free agent position player NY has signed in years. Tremendous skills at the plate and in the field. He hasn’t reached his prime yet and will continue to improve unless the New York night life becomes a distraction. Cano had a terrible ’08 and should return to his clutch hitting ways. Captain Jeter needs to remain healthy. He had an inconsistent ’08 and really needs to “lead” in ’09. ARod is out 6-9 weeks. As of now, reserve Cody Ransom is slated to fill in. Yanks need to find a two month 3B. Another Scott Brosius/Charlie Hayes type player is what’s needed. If Ransom is named the starter… all he has to do is field his position well and improve his bunting skills.

Outfielders: Damon, Matsui, Nady, Cabrera, Swisher. It’s deep here which should be a great bonus for Girardi. Yanks bench is AL’s best. All had less than stellar ’08 performances. Centerfield D is key here. Whoever wins the spring training battle (Cabrera or Swisher) will need to play big in the field and cut down on strike outs at the plate. It’ll be Damon in LF and Nady in RF.

Forecast: Most feared lineup in AL now has pitching support and improved defense. NY can survive without ARod with solid defense on the hot corner. Yanks will win no less than 105 games assuming key pitchers remain healthy.


Tampa Bay Rays (Mgr. Joe Maddon)
Tampa was 2008 Cinderella story. Never having won more than 70 games in their brief history… Tampa Bay outplayed Boston & New York for AL East Title (97 wins). Maddon’s team then bested Chicago in ALDS before stunning Boston in ALCS to qualify for their first World Series appearance. Can they repeat as AL East champs? Not this year.

Rotation: Kazmir, Shields & Garza were tough in ’08. David Price is a future star and is projected as #4 with Sonnastine 5th. Setup: Balfour. Closer: Percival.Will there be bumps in the road this time around? Just a gut feeling says yes. Rays rotation might quickly become the gem of the division in years to come. It’s their bullpen which could cost them a shot at repeating as division winners. Percival is brittle but brilliant when healthy. We’ll soon find out if the rest of the relief crew can recreate ’08 success or return to earth in ’09. I think TB will have plenty of bullpen struggles this season. They’ll be overused and burnt out by short outings by starters.
Around the Horn: Pena, Iwamura, Bartlett, Longoria. This crew will need to play stellar defense for pitchers to succeed. Hitting will be wait and see. They’re not big on batting averages but make up for it with late inning clutch swings.

Outfielders: Crawford, Upton, Joyce & Burrell will provide range but will they hit? Crawford flashes a great combination of extra base hits, speed and base running ability. Upton and Joyce are free swingers needing better command of the strike zone. Burrell figures to see more time at DH than LF.

Forecast: Rays will challenge for another playoff appearance. Not enough power at the plate to keep up with NY this year. Bullpen will not duplicate ’08 performances. Talented team on the rise falls short in ’09.


Boston Red Sox (Mgr. Terry Francona) Red Sox want another World Series crown. Health will be the main concern. If they can stay healthy Boston will be one of baseball’s best. Don’t count on good health. Depth off the bench won’t be enough to beat out NY or keep up with a younger Tampa group.

Rotation: Beckett, Matsuzaka, Lester, Wakefield, Penny, Smoltz. Setup: undecided. Closer: Papelbon. Looking great on paper. Looks might be deceiving. 2 keys here: is Lester for real? And, can Penny/Smoltz get healthy enough to contribute? BIG questions in my book . Papelbon is one of baseball’s best. Red Sox high on Justin Masterson’s future. Catcher Jason Varitek is AL’s best signal caller from behind the plate. JV gets the best out of his staff. Unfortunately, his hitting skills took a year off in ’08 and almost lead to not being resigned. Let’s see if he can get it together in ’09.

Around the Horn: Youkilis, Pedroia, Lowrie, Lowell. Left side is question mark. Is Lowrie an everyday SS? No. Lowell has been one of Boston’s steadiest contributors but has been running into health issues lately. Pedroia at 2B one of AL’s best. Youkilis is Mr. Clutch.

Outfield: Bay, Ellsbury, Drew are the starters. None strike fear into opposing staffs. Ellsbury finally takes over everyday duties but will not live up to local fan expectations. I’ve never been a fan of oft injured Drew dating back to his earliest hold out days. This trio is Boston’s weakest outfield in recent memory. I’m happily surprised GM Epstein didn’t upgrade!

Forecast: Francona will have his team ready to play every game. Too many aging stars who might be on downturn of career and players injury concerns sink Boston into 3rd (Penny, Smoltz, Lowell, Varitek, Ortiz). Has David Ortiz nagging wrist fully healed? A healthy Big Papi is needed to carry Boston’s less than powerful offense. A healthy team challenges NY. This Band-Aid bunch will make plenty of DL trips.


Baltimore Orioles (Mgr. Dave Trembley)
When will the Orioles return to respectability? This once great franchise has floundered under Peter Angelos ownership. It’s been one bad move after another. They are five managers removed from their last winning season (1997 1st place, Davey Johnson, 98-64). 2009 team has a pretty solid lineup. Pitching staff is weak.

Rotation: As of this moment, no clear cut rotation in place. Closer: George Sherrill. Jeremy Guthrie & newcomer Koji Uehara figure to be 1-2. Trembley might close his eyes and pull names out of a hat for 3 thru 5. On the upside, a couple of talented pitchers are in the mix (Baez, Hendrickson). Orioles biggest problem has been pitchers falling behind hitters and issuing free passes. Bullpen assignments have been a dogfight this spring as pitchers battle for innings. Baltimore will have some tough cuts before opening day.

Around the Horn: Huff, Roberts, Izturis, Mora. A solid infield with a good mix of speed and power. Defense will dramatically improve up the middle with Baltimore’s addition of Izturis. O’s got killed last year by seeing-eye grounders. All four have good plate discipline. Behind the plate on opening day might be one of baseball’s top prospects, Matt Wieters.

Outfield: Markakis, Jones, Pie, Scott, Wigginton. Markakis is a rising star. Trembley has high hopes for Adam Jones quick improvement. I’d like to see Ty Wigginton take over at 3B and Mora move into LF. Wigginton is steady at third and can hit. Mora is better suited to handle the switch. O’s picked up Pie from Chicago but he’s not the answer in ’09.

Forecast: Run producing offense coupled with run surrendering pitchers will make for exciting box scores. Orioles will finally become fun to watch but will continue losing more games than they win. These birds remain in a no fly zone.


Toronto Blue Jays (Mgr. Cito Gaston).
Cito Gaston has always been one of baseball’s most underrated managers. Guess what? Toronto hasn’t won a division title since Gaston’s final season (1993 World Champions). He came back to inject some life into this club after John Gibbons was canned mid-season. 2009 will be rough north of the border. This is not a good team and attendance will be one of AL’s lowest quickly highlighting potential economic doom for Toronto.

Rotation: Halladay, Litsch, Purcey are 1-3. Closer: BJ Ryan. Halladay might be a cost cutting trade bait move mid-season. He’s one of the games best hurlers. Purcey is high on Toronto’s radar. Gaston will decide who rounds out the last 2 slots between 5 pitchers. Bullpen has been this teams Achilles heel in recent seasons. BJ Ryan needs to stay away from the DL. Jays pen is anything can happen. Cito will pick the best of the bunch but this division is too tough for on the job training.

Around the Horn: Overbay, Hill, Scutaro, Rolen. Good but qualifies as divisions weakest. No power and possible short range up the middle. Not good when playing most games on turf. Overbay lacks power and Rolen is brittle. Kevin Millar will get some time vs lefties and fill in as DH from time to time. Not many runs will be produced by this crew.

Outfield: Rios, Wells, Snider, Lind. Question marks. Rios (RF) & Wells (CF) are great when healthy. Wells is already missing spring games. Thin OF.

Forecast: Toronto will give up many runs. Injury prone players visit DL. It’s going to be a very long year for Blue Jays fans.

Stay tuned...... American League Central on deck!

www.allworldallsports.com