AL EAST
Yankees
While the losses of clutch players Damon, Matsui and Melky are huge, The additions of Curtis Granderson, Nick Johnson and Javier Vazquez are bigger. The Vazquez signing is interesting, since they tried him here a few years ago and he was terrible, and pitchers moving to the AL from the NL are historically not as effective. But this situation is different, since he's not here expected to be the ace or even #2, just eat up quality innings to ease the burden on everybody else. The Yankees are the deepest they have been in ten years with a strong bench, a great bullpen, and a bunch of pitchers capable of filling a rotation spot (Joba, Aceves, Gaudin, Mitre) should problems arise. Teixeira and Burnett should be a little more comfortable and therefore perform even better. And with ARod healthy to start the season the Yankees should be able to win even more games than they did last year. Simply, there are no question marks on this team.
Red Sox
It all begins with Lester, Beckett and Lackey, three aces who all give glimpses of dominance at some point during the season. Matsuzaka isn't ready but the ageless Tim Wakefield should do what he has always done in the meantime. David Big Papi Ortiz doesn't seem to be the focal point of the offense anymore (I'm not really sure what is), but if he begins the season with the same power he ended it with last year the Red Sox offense will be in good shape. Boston has a nice balance of "little ball" and power in their lineup, but there is no one or two sluggers that will scare any opposing pitchers. Instead, the management has focused on starting pitching and defense and a balanced offense. If the Red Sox don't lead the AL in ERA then they won't make the playoffs (but they probably will).
Rays
Tampa's biggest weakness last year was their bullpen, and they improved that by signing Rafael Soriano so that Howell, Wheeler and Balfour can solidy the setup positions. The starting rotation has a lot of "potential", but hasn't proven anything that can sustain a whole season. I am interested to see how David Price and Wade Davis perform. The lineup should score a ton of runs. Evan Longoria has MVP potential, Zobrist and Bartlett were productive pleasant surprises in the middle infield, Kelly Shoppach is a nice addition for backup catcher, and BJ Upton and Pat Burrell have plenty of opportunity for improvement this season. However, if the Rays fall back early in the AL East there's a good chance that Carl Crawford, one of their franchise's most productive players, could be traded away. Hopefully that doesn't happen.
Orioles
The O's improved rotation and found a closer with additions of veteran Kevin Millwood and Mike Gonzalez, but the excitement for Baltmore is found in their young hitters (Weiters, Markakis, Jones and Reinhold). Their infielders are all potential disappointments: Roberts is already hurt, new addition Atkins was awful last year, and Tejada returns on his last legs. Millwood should relieve some pressure on the other starters. They won't lose 98 games again, but in the AL East they will fail to reach 81 wins for the 13th straight season.
Blue Jays
Toronto was one of the worst teams in the second half and the biggest moves they made were trading away their best player (Halladay) and losing their leadoff hitter (Scutaro). The Blue Jays don't have an ace or anybody else that would make #2 pitcher for most teams. The Blue Jays are depending a lot on Shawn Marcum and Dustin McGowan (neither threw a pitch last year) and four other young pitchers without much experience who's names you probably won't recognize. Adam Lind and Aaron Hill had big breakout seasons and I look forward to seeing Lind make the All Star game this year. This is what you call a rebuilding year and it will show in the standings.
Season Forecast
Yankees 104-58
Red Sox 94-68
Rays 91-71
Orioles 76-86
Blue Jays 68-94
MVP: Mark Teixeira
Best Pitcher: CC Sabathia
Breakout Player: Matt Weiters
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