Taking into account yesterday's megadeal, what are your current power rankings for the AL East?

[ChaosLex]

This one is a toughie, IMO. Obviously, everything is subject to change, depending on the moves each team makes throughout the remainder of the offseason.

[ChaosLex]

My take:

1. MFY's

2. Blue Jays

3a) Rays

3b) O's

4. Red Sox

Rays have the edge on us as far as pitching is concerned obviously, but I still think it's close otherwise.

[Roll Tide]

My take:

1. MFY's

2. Blue Jays

3a) Rays

3b) O's

4. Red Sox

Rays have the edge on us as far as pitching is concerned obviously, but I still think it's close otherwise.

Ditto...Thats why I suggest the Orioles take action.

[Sanfran327]

If the Marlins were't that good last year, what makes anyone think that getting all of their players is going to make the Blue Jays any good? I'll believe it when I see it.

[Rene88]

If the Marlins were't that good last year, what makes anyone think that getting all of their players is going to make the Blue Jays any good? I'll believe it when I see it.

Toronto has the best farm system in baseball (at least prior to this deal). They have more than enough talent. You gotta execute, I agree, but it is hard to argue with that kinda talent. I am still blown away by that deal.

Here is my question-what if Tampa gets a bat or two? Scary thought. The better the AL East is, the worse we are, plain and simple.

[DrungoHazewood]

If the Marlins were't that good last year, what makes anyone think that getting all of their players is going to make the Blue Jays any good? I'll believe it when I see it.

You mean you've never played the game where you take two bad teams and combine them into one excellent team? Or course it's plausible that you could take a Jays team that was a 70-something team on talent, get Bautista back, and add several big stars, get a little growth out of young pitchers, and they're right there in the 80s or low 90s in wins.

Your argument implies that everyone on a bad team has to be bad. It's nonsense. If a team had acquired Cal after one of his MVP-ish years on a bad O's team, would that team have not gotten a lot better?

[notyourbuddy]

1. Skankers

2. Rays

3a. Jays

3b. Orioles

4. Red Sox

Rays are a known commodity. Elite pitching and good team chemistry. They looked like the best team in the league down the stretch.

Jays are improved and have a much better offense than the Rays, but throwing a bunch of random veterans onto a single roster is no guarantee for success. Romero has to re-prove himself, there are quite a few injury concerns on that team (Reyes moving to turf for one), and their bullpen is still a black hole that needs to be addressed.

[ShaneDawg85]

Absolutely nothing has changed between the end of the season, and right now. Playing these paper games is foolish. The results ended the way they did last season for a reason, and until actually proven otherwise, I see no reason to view it any other way. I get that everyone pee's their pants whenever one of our divisional rivals does something and we don't, but everyone needs to chill.

[Frobby]

Orioles

Rays

Yankees

Blue Jays

Red Sox

My gut feeling is that the Yankees' run is over. Age has caught up to them unless they make some moves this winter to get more young talent. I actually fear the Rays the most. The Jays are improved but I think people are overrating the impact of yesterday's trade. Josh Johnson hasn't been as dominating a pitcher since having surgery in 2011, so to me, he has to prove that he's anything more than a no. 2-3 starter, as Buehrle is at this stage of his career. Reyes is wildly inconsistent and may not be much of an upgrade over Escobar, IMO.

By the way, I'm putting the Orioles first mostly because I'm sick of people saying they were a fluke. They're a good team and will prove it again in 2013. Whatever I say now can change based on what happens this winter, so I'm putting them at no. 1 just to make a statement. I'm not a big believer in power rankings anyway, as everyone knows.

[wildcard]

Orioles

Rays

Yankees

Blue Jays

Red Sox

My gut feeling is that the Yankees' run is over. Age has caught up to them unless they make some moves this winter to get more young talent. I actually fear the Rays the most. The Jays are improved but I think people are overrating the impact of yesterday's trade. Josh Johnson hasn't been as dominating a pitcher since having surgery in 2011, so to me, he has to prove that he's anything more than a no. 2-3 starter, as Buehrle is at this stage of his career. Reyes is wildly inconsistent and may not be much of an upgrade over Escobar, IMO.

By the way, I'm putting the Orioles first mostly because I'm sick of people saying they were a fluke. They're a good team and will prove it again in 2013. Whatever I say now can change based on what happens this winter, so I'm putting them at no. 1 just to make a statement. I'm not a big believer in power rankings anyway, as everyone knows.

Right now I can't rank the O's as high as you do because McLouth and Saunders are FAs and Reynolds in on the bubble. And if Reynolds is on the bubble where is Hammel. He is a FA after 2013 also. Once these issues are resolved the rankings will be clearer.

[BrunoCherrytown]

1/2 - Rays - Blue Jays

3 - Orioles

4 - Yankees

5 - Red Sox

[mcinww0]

Rays

Jays

Yankees

Orioles

Sox

Other than the Red Sox I think the top 4 are really interchangeable, but the offseason may clarify things a little bit. The Jay's trade looks amazing to the casual fan, but I've noticed a trend lately of mediocre to solid teams trying to buy their way to a championship. The '11 Red Sox, '12 Angels, '12 Marlins and '12 Dodgers all came up short of the playoffs after adding huge star power and payroll. That said, they will have to get incredibly unlucky not to have a good year next year and could easily be dominant.

The Yankees are getting old, and without Swisher, Soriano and possibly Kuroda, and without any real impact prospects on the way, their future isn't too bright. They'll still contend but I'd be shocked if they took the division. The Rays need a bat or two, or they'll look very similar to how they did in 2012. The Sox are devoid of talent. We are not a playoff team in this division as currently composed but that could easily change with help at first and/or left and the emergence of a few young SP's.

[waroriole]

Is Machado for a full season over Betemit/Reynolds more of an upgrade than Reyes over Escobar?

[DrungoHazewood]

Orioles My gut feeling is that the Yankees' run is over. Age has caught up to them unless they make some moves this winter to get more young talent.

My assumption on the Yanks is unchanged from the past 20 years: they'll leverage their massive revenue advantages into advantages on the field. That's been a pretty safe assumption for most of the past 90 years.

I actually fear the Rays the most. The Jays are improved but I think people are overrating the impact of yesterday's trade. Josh Johnson hasn't been as dominating a pitcher since having surgery in 2011, so to me, he has to prove that he's anything more than a no. 2-3 starter, as Buehrle is at this stage of his career. Reyes is wildly inconsistent and may not be much of an upgrade over Escobar, IMO.

Johnson wasn't a dominant pitcher, but he was basically a 190-inning version of Hammel. Buehrle has started 30+ games and had 200+ innings for 11 consecutive years, and had an ERA+ of 100 or better in 10 of those. If you added up the numbers of Hammel, Chen, and, say... Brian Matusz you basically have Johnson + Buehrle. Would the O's be a little better if they had two each of Chen and Hammel, plus some (and much more consistency and track record)?

Reyes had a down year that was still worth about 3 wins, and Escobar is a guy that multiple teams now have found excuses to trade. On paper it's a small gain, but I'm not going to discount the fact that he's not well liked.

The Jays didn't just lock up the AL East, but they took a fairly large step forward.

[Frobby]

Right now I can't rank the O's as high as you do because McLouth and Saunders are FAs and Reynolds in on the bubble. And if Reynolds is on the bubble where is Hammel. He is a FA after 2013 also. Once these issues are resolved the rankings will be clearer.

Yes, my rankings are just silly unless we re-sign or upgrade from McLouth and Reynolds. I'm less concerned about Saunders because of the number of candidates we have for the rotation, though I wouldn't mind it if the Orioles re-signed him or upgraded from there.