Monday, February 07, 2005
AL East
Lost in the shuffle last week, was a promise from the Blue Jays' ownership to up the payroll to about $70million per year for the next three years. The Red Sox haven't really made any moves since the Varitek signing, so technically they should not have gotten worse in that time, but there is some concern here.
The Orioles added Sosa, who declining or not, is a decent fielder and can be a monster at the plate. In Fenway, he could be really scary, and the Orioles give the Sox a harder time than they should every year.
Meanwhile, the Blue Jays, who have an Epstein type GM in charge, are expanding their payroll by about 40%. Clearly they will be able to field a better team with that kind of expansion, although I'm not sure what good it does for this year as there aren't many free agents still out there.
As the AL East gets tougher, the Sox win total declines. Even if they remain better than the Orioles and Blue Jays, which I expect them to do, losing out on a couple wins per year as the division competition gets stiffer could ultimately be the difference between the Wild Card and sitting at home in October.
As the AL East beats up on each other, if a second decent team can emerge in the AL Central (Cleveland?), it will have a much easier path to the playoffs.
The Orioles added Sosa, who declining or not, is a decent fielder and can be a monster at the plate. In Fenway, he could be really scary, and the Orioles give the Sox a harder time than they should every year.
Meanwhile, the Blue Jays, who have an Epstein type GM in charge, are expanding their payroll by about 40%. Clearly they will be able to field a better team with that kind of expansion, although I'm not sure what good it does for this year as there aren't many free agents still out there.
As the AL East gets tougher, the Sox win total declines. Even if they remain better than the Orioles and Blue Jays, which I expect them to do, losing out on a couple wins per year as the division competition gets stiffer could ultimately be the difference between the Wild Card and sitting at home in October.
As the AL East beats up on each other, if a second decent team can emerge in the AL Central (Cleveland?), it will have a much easier path to the playoffs.
# posted by Darlucky @ 4:09 PM 
