• A.L. East – Everyone Wins…Sorta

    Posted by on February 6th, 2013 · Comments (6)

    Via Jayson Stark -

    I surveyed one baseball executive in all six divisions, including three who formerly worked for teams in the AL East. I also had Dan Szymborski project records for every team and every division in 2013. Then I did team-by-team, division-by-division power rankings. And, finally, I factored in payrolls, Vegas odds and all sorts of other data. So what’s the answer? Read on. …

    #1 – American League East

    No, I wasn’t trying to trick you. Check the hard facts:

    Projected division record: 434-376, .536 (1st)
    Projected record vs. non-division opponents: 244-186, .567 (1st)
    Projected 90-win teams: one (Toronto)
    Projected .500 or better teams: all five
    Vegas rank: 1st
    Payroll rank: 1st
    Power ranking: 1st
    Poll ranking: 1st

    So the argument that the AL East is still No. 1 doesn’t require a degree from MIT to comprehend. It’s as basic as a 3-1 fastball: Top to bottom, it’s still the best.

    Szymborski is projecting that this will become the second division in the wild-card era (along with the 2005 NL East) in which every team finishes .500 or better.

    This means the Yankees are, at least, and 81-win team but not a 90-win team. And, it would not shock me if that was the case in New York this year.

    Filed under Rivalry Snapshots · ·

    Comments on A.L. East – Everyone Wins…Sorta

    1. Corey
      February 6th, 2013 | 3:45 pm

      Makes sense, I could see this team with 88-89 wins at the end of the year.

      Of course, we all know that this is not the team that we will end up with at the end of September.
    2. Steve L.
      February 6th, 2013 | 3:50 pm

      @ Corey:
      Really, they’re going to add payroll during the season?
    3. Corey
      February 6th, 2013 | 3:59 pm

      @ Steve L.:
      They’ve done it year after year without fail. You really don’t think they are going to make moves before the trade deadline? The amount of money they lose by adding payroll could be nothing compared to the amount they lose via poor attendance if the team is in trouble mid year.

      Also, who says they are going to add payroll in a potential deal? They could trade for a younger player (not saying they will, but it’s a non-zero chance).
    4. MJ Recanati
      February 6th, 2013 | 4:35 pm

      Steve L. wrote:

      Really, they’re going to add payroll during the season?

      Adding payroll during the season that comes off at the end of the season still fits within the parameters of what management wants to do vis-a-vis the 2014 luxury tax reset.

      Think Ichiro or other impending free agents.
    5. Steve L.
      February 6th, 2013 | 4:37 pm

      Yeah, I could see them adding guys in their walk year…
      but, teams would only do that if they could get prospects in return. And, are the Yankees willing to do that now?
    6. MJ Recanati
      February 6th, 2013 | 5:03 pm

      Steve L. wrote:

      Yeah, I could see them adding guys in their walk year…
      but, teams would only do that if they could get prospects in return. And, are the Yankees willing to do that now?

      Depends on the player coming in return. For Ichiro, the Yankees gave up a surplus back-end rotation/bullpen guy. The organization has enough of those guys to give away in other, similar trades.

      Adam Warren is the next to go.

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