2K13: AL East

[TS Garp]

Still many moves to be made this off-season, but could 2013 be the season that the Yankees & Red Sox finish 4th and 5th respectively?

[Moonlight J]

Yankees
Jays
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Rays
Orioles
50 feet of crap
Red Sox

[TS Garp]

Yankees
Jays
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Rays
Orioles
50 feet of crap
Red Sox

I see serious regression for the Yankees next year.

[revo]

I see serious regression for the Yankees next year.

It's possible. They're at $150m already without their FAs included, and want to stay under $185m. Cashman will need to make a bunch of lower scale moves to get the Yanks back to WS contenders.

[TS Garp]

Interesting. How come?

A lot of people expected it to happen this year, but they defied the odds with great performances from Kuroda, Jeter, Pettitte, etc. I think the loss of Swisher will hurt more than people think. Granted, they'll have Gardner and Pineda (although who knows what to expect from him) back, but Jeter may not be ready for the beginning of the season, and I just have to imagine some regression is in order. Hard to say if Kuroda will be back -- that would be a big loss. Or if he'll pitch at quite the same level again; he's not young. And then you have the whole ARod "problem." Add to that the fact that division is stronger and I think they'll be quite a bit worse this year. Again, we'll see what moves they make, but, in general, this is an aging team with very few players in their prime or on the rise, and they don't seem willing to throw a ton of money at the problems to fix them anymore.

[BigJonEmpire]

The Blue Jays should be better but I don't think they're better bet than the Yankees just yet. The lineup may be on par if everything clicks, Lind and his platoon partner work out and so forth. But the rotation while very very deep is still rather ace-less.

[virgonomic]

The Blue Jays should be better but I don't think they're better bet than the Yankees just yet. The lineup may be on par if everything clicks, Lind and his platoon partner work out and so forth. But the rotation while very very deep is still rather ace-less.

Craziness. Any of Morrow/Johnson/Buehrle/Romero could start opening day. All but Morrow have.

They were discussing the Jays rotation on the radio last week. One guy said Buehrle should be the #1 starter because nothing phases him. The other guy had Johnson. Both said Romero slots in at #4 which will take the pressure off him and put him in line for a big comeback year.

Personally, I like Buehrle/Johnson/Morrow/Romero/Happ.

[revo]

Craziness. Any of Morrow/Johnson/Buehrle/Romero could start opening day. All but Morrow have.

I don't think he's referring to "ace" as "opening day quality," but more like a Cy Young-quality starter. Buehrle and Romero are clearly more #3 and #4 type starters (and Romero was turrble last season), Morrow may be an ace one day, and Johnson is the closest of this group to one, even if he didn't pitch like on last year.

[BigJonEmpire]

I don't think he's referring to "ace" as "opening day quality," but more like a Cy Young-quality starter. Buehrle and Romero are clearly more #3 and #4 type starters (and Romero was turrble last season), Morrow may be an ace one day, and Johnson is the closest of this group to one, even if he didn't pitch like on last year.

Exactly, what I meant.

[BuckyBuckner]

I don't think he's referring to "ace" as "opening day quality," but more like a Cy Young-quality starter. Buehrle and Romero are clearly more #3 and #4 type starters (and Romero was turrble last season), Morrow may be an ace one day, and Johnson is the closest of this group to one, even if he didn't pitch like on last year.

Exactly, I think we've been over this before, just cause a pitcher is listed as the #1 starter on a team doesn't mean he's an ace. Verlander, Price, CC, Felix, etc they are aces.

[TS Garp]

The Blue Jays should be better but I don't think they're better bet than the Yankees just yet. The lineup may be on par if everything clicks, Lind and his platoon partner work out and so forth. But the rotation while very very deep is still rather ace-less.

I think the lineup is already better than the Yankees (depending on who the Yankees bring in, of course), but while the Jays may lack an ace, the Yankees' rotation lacks depth, especially if Kuroda and/or Pettitte don't return. The absence of an ace could hurt the Jays come playoff time, but for the purposes of the regular season, I'd prefer to have the depth.

[BigJonEmpire]

I think the lineup is already better than the Yankees (depending on who the Yankees bring in, of course), but while the Jays may lack an ace, the Yankees' rotation lacks depth, especially if Kuroda and/or Pettitte don't return. The absence of an ace could hurt the Jays come playoff time, but for the purposes of the regular season, I'd prefer to have the depth.

I don't think the Blue Jays are far from being better but I think they have too many question marks. Lind needs to prove something this season. EE needs to repeat. Lawrie needs to build on his rookie season, he's not proven anything yet. Rasmus has been inconsistent. The catchers are one dimensional. The defense is still a question mark.

I do like the depth of the rotation though. Oakland showed us how far quality depth will get you. Obviously if Johnson is the best version of himself that would help a lot.

[Riff Raff]

No 'ace' - unless Johnson comes around unexpectedly.

I do look at this rotation and compare it to others in the East. TB has the best talent but likely can't keep it all. TB has a front line starter as do the Yanks.

The Jays have at minimum upgraded their SP to be good enough to compare with their competition. On the OFF side, big time upgrade.

[wannabegriffey]

How come nobody thinks a healthy 195 inning morrow is not an 'ace' pitcher? Lots of strike outs, doesn't walk too too many, he has the stuff to dominate every time out.

[TranaGreg]

How come nobody thinks a healthy 195 inning morrow is not an 'ace' pitcher? Lots of strike outs, doesn't walk too too many, he has the stuff to dominate every time out.

Hey, I'll agree that until he does it for a full season, he's a potential ace, nothing more.

Having said that, Verlanders don't grow on trees. Oakland & Baltimore made it to the playoffs without an ace, and Texas doesn't have a true ace at the premium level ... with a solid 5 man rotation & a top tier offense I think that we can easily contend with JJ in the 1 slot. And keep in mind that a lot of the concerns raised are now with guys pegged to be hitting in the bottom third of the order (e.g. Lind).