Since 2014, each team in the American League East has won the division at least once, made multiple playoff appearances and reached the AL Championship Series at least once. The fact that no other division in baseball comes close to boasting even one of these accomplishments over this seven-year span is a testament to the year-to-year competitiveness and unpredictability of the AL East division. 2021 appears no different, as three teams — the New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays and reigning AL champions Tampa Bay Rays — are expected to compete for this year’s AL East crown. Here is a look at each team’s situation heading into the new season, which hopefully can help you determine how things will stand once the 162 regular season games are in the books.
Baltimore Orioles
Good news, Orioles fans: The worst is most likely behind you. The bad news? The Orioles will not be competing for a playoff spot in 2021. In the shortened 2020 season, particularly the first half of it, the Orioles were playing competitive baseball. The offensive prowess that won the Orioles a handful of games early on was the first real sign of promise that the team had shown since initiating a complete rebuild in 2018. Though most of the players involved in that glimmer of success were lost to trades and free agency this offseason, there are still plenty of reasons to be excited about the Orioles offense in 2021. The veteran and leader of this team, first baseman and outfielder Trey Mancini, returns to the lineup fully healthy after a stage 3 colon cancer diagnosis cost him his 2020 season. Breakout candidates include outfielder Anthony Santander, who had an impressive 11 home runs and 32 RBIs over the course of 37 games in 2020 and Ryan Mountcastle, who batted .333 in his first 35 games as a major leaguer in 2020. If there is a decisive reason why the Orioles will remain uncompetitive in 2021, it is because of their lack of pitching talent.
Boston Red Sox
Though only two years removed from a World Series title, the Red Sox found themselves in a more dire situation than the Orioles in 2020. Departures and injuries hampered their rotation, which was woeful in 2020 and only backed up by a historically bad bullpen. The rotation should be helped by the return of left-handed pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez after his long battle with COVID-19 and ace left-handed pitcher Chris Sale, who is scheduled to return from Tommy John Surgery later in the season. Even without star outfielder Mookie Betts, who won his second World Series ring in his first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020 before signing a 12-year extension with the club, the lineup that showed signs of life toward the end of the shortened season returns mostly intact for 2021. Keep an eye on outfielder and designated hitter J.D. Martinez, who the Sox will count on to bounce back if they hope to compete in 2021. If that doesn’t happen, there’s still a strong offense around him, which includes Xander Bogaerts, Bobby Dalbec, Rafael Devers, Enrique Hernandez and Alex Verdugo, who can keep the team in playoff contention if they catch fire.
Toronto Blue Jays
The up-and-coming Toronto Blue Jays got their first taste of October baseball after finishing with a winning record and squeezing into the expanded AL postseason as the eighth and final seed. They were swept in two games by the eventual AL champions Tampa Bay Rays, but many believe this is only the start of a new era of winning baseball in Toronto. This offseason, the Blue Jays added experienced and dynamic sluggers, George Springer and Marcus Semien, to accompany the strengths of the lineup’s blossoming prospects, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette, consequently becoming one of the strongest lineups in the league. A rotation led by Hyun-Jin Ryu appears to have the depth needed for a postseason run, but the team will need help from the bullpen, which was one of Toronto’s weaker areas in 2020.
Tampa Bay Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays had a spectacular 2020 season, which saw them finish the regular season with the best record in the AL and defeat the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees and Houston Astros en route to the AL pennant. Their season ended not so spectacularly in Game 6 of the World Series after manager Kevin Cash, in what many saw as an overzealous act on analytics, pulled pitcher Blake Snell in the sixth inning of a dominant display which had protected Tampa Bay’s 1–0 lead. Snell was traded this offseason, and the Tampa Bay starting rotation was also afflicted by the loss of former All-Star Charlie Morton to the Atlanta Braves. They are replaced by free agent pitcher signings Chris Archer and Michael Wacha, while Tyler Glasnow and Ryan Yarbrough step into more prominent roles in the rotation. Second baseman Brandon Lowe, center fielder Kevin Kiermaier and rookie outfielder Randy Arozarena, who dazzled in the 2020 AL postseason, return as the best hitters on a Rays lineup that was neutralized by the Dodgers in the World Series. The bullpen of Nick Anderson, Diego Castillo, Peter Fairbanks, Collin McHugh and Chaz Roe, among others, has the capacity to deliver many close wins in late innings again for the Rays, but it’s hard to see this team take a step forward as World Series champions in 2021 given how much the competition around them has stepped up.
New York Yankees
Yankees fans were disappointed as the big spenders were eliminated in the AL Division Series by the small market Rays. There is very little that is weak about the New York Yankees and they are strong contenders for a World Series title in 2021. They re-signed second baseman DJ LeMahieu this offseason. He and Aaron Judge will lead easily one of the strongest lineups in baseball, but it is critical that they overcome the injury bug that plagued them in 2020. The starting rotation is headlined by strikeout machine Gerrit Cole and will hope to benefit from the free agent signings of Corey Kluber and Jameson Taillon. Aroldis Chapman and Zack Britton form as reliable a bullpen as any and will be able to deliver a lot of close wins. This Yankees team will be a playoff team, but will they finally win the World Series again after 12 years? Only time will tell.
