Let's rank the AL East positional talent

[ChuckS]

Catcher:

1. Gary Sanchez - Yankees 2. Russell Martin - Blue Jays 3. Wellington Castillo - Orioles 4. Sandy Leon - Red Sox 5. Casali/Maile? - Rays

First base:

1. Chris Davis - Orioles 2. Moreland - Boston 3. Greg Bird/Matt Holiday - Yankees  4. Pearce/Smoak - Blue Jays 5. Morrison/Gallaspie? - Rays

Second base:

1. Pedroia - Red Sox 2. Devon Travis - Blue Jays 3. Schoop - Orioles 4. Starlin Castro - Yankees  5.Franklin/Beckham - Rays

Third base:

1. Manny - Orioles 2. Donaldson - Jays 3. Longoria - Rays 4. Sandoval/Holt - Red Sox 5. Headley - Yankees

Shortstop: 

1. Bogarts - Red Sox 2. Tulo - Blue Jays 3. Gregorius - Yankees 4. Hardy - Orioles 5. Duffy - Rays

Left field (this is tough):

1. Gardner - Yankees 2. Benintendi - Red Sox 3. Kim/Rickard - Orioles 4. Rasmus/Smith - Rays 5. Carrera/Upton - Blue Jays

Center field:

1. Bradley Jr. - Red Sox 2. Kiermaier - Rays 3. Jones - Orioles 4. Pillar - Blue Jays 5. Ellsbury - Red Sox

Right field:

1. Betts - Red Sox 2. Bautista - Blue Jays 3. Smith/Trumbo - Orioles 3. Aaron Judge - Yankees 5. Souza - Rays

DH:

1. Trumbo/Mancini - Orioles 2. Ramirez/Sandoval - Red Sox 3. Morales - Blue Jays 4. Carter/Holliday - Yankees 5. Dickerson/Miller? - Rays

Some thoughts:  I tried to account for offense and defense, which is why I'm ranking Kiermaier ahead of Jones. The Rays are going to be really bad on offense ranking dead last in six out of nine positions.   First base is really mediocre after Davis - not traditionally the case in the AL east. I wanted to rank Castillo over Martin given Martin's age and decline, but I had to give the nod to Martin for defense.  It could be argued that we are top three in the division at every position on the diamond if you aren't a believer in Gregorius' 2016 season.  

 

[ArtVanDelay]

Manny is not better than Donaldson.  I'd also put Kiermaier ahead of Bradley Jr. 

[Frobby]

I need to see more of Sanchez to know where I'd rank him.    There was nothing in his minor league career to foreshadow what he did in his first month in the majors, though he was a highly regarded prospect.   He never hit 20 homers in a season in the minors, then he hit 20 in 55 games with the Yankees.   I expect he'll hit well for a catcher, but not like he did in 2016.    If I'm wrong, I'll be very depressed.

[ChuckS]

18 minutes ago, ArtVanDelay said:

Manny is not better than Donaldson.  I'd also put Kiermaier ahead of Bradley Jr. 

They were relatively equal in WAR in 2016.  Manny has age on his side.  It's close.  

Bradley's OPS last season is close to 100 points above Kiermaier's career number.  They are both excellent defensively, but overall I rather have Bradley on my team.  

[ChuckS]

7 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I need to see more of Sanchez to know where I'd rank him.    There was nothing in his minor league career to foreshadow what he did in his first month in the majors, though he was a highly regarded prospect.   He never hit 20 homers in a season in the minors, then he hit 20 in 55 games with the Yankees.   I expect he'll hit well for a catcher, but not like he did in 2016.    If I'm wrong, I'll be very depressed.

Even if he comes back to earth, he's a clear no. 1 in the division given his defensive capabilities. 

[Satyr3206]

24 minutes ago, ArtVanDelay said:

Manny is not better than Donaldson.  I'd also put Kiermaier ahead of Bradley Jr. 

Very similar hitters. I think Manny beats him with the glove. Manny by a hair.

[ArtVanDelay]

8 minutes ago, ChuckS said:

They were relatively equal in WAR in 2016.  Manny has age on his side.  It's close.  

Bradley's OPS last season is close to 100 points above Kiermaier's career number.  They are both excellent defensively, but overall I rather have Bradley on my team.  

Donaldson is still basically a win better than Manny by rWAR and fWAR.  It's not that close.  Maybe Manny is better going forward, but Donaldson has to take the #1 spot at this moment.  If you're projecting that Manny will be better in 2017 then I won't argue with that. 

[ArtVanDelay]

6 minutes ago, Satyr3206 said:

Very similar hitters. I think Manny beats him with the glove. Manny by a hair.

Donaldson is a significantly better hitter than Manny.  Manny definitely beats him with the glove. 

[ChuckS]

3 minutes ago, ArtVanDelay said:

Donaldson is still basically a win better than Manny by rWAR and fWAR.  It's not that close.  Maybe Manny is better going forward, but Donaldson has to take the #1 spot at this moment.  If you're projecting that Manny will be better in 2017 then I won't argue with that. 

Clearly that's what I am doing.  

I wasn't ranking how they performed in 2016.  That would be kind of pointless. 

[Frobby]

15 minutes ago, ChuckS said:

Even if he comes back to earth, he's a clear no. 1 in the division given his defensive capabilities. 

Yeah, I'll still wait and see.   He looked good defensively when I saw him.

On a related topic, I hate the Yankees.

[Frobby]

3 minutes ago, ChuckS said:

Clearly that's what I am doing.  

I wasn't ranking how they performed in 2016.  That would be kind of pointless. 

I'd probably hold my nose and choose Donaldson for 2017.   I don't like him much, but you have to give him his due.   He's been over 7 rWAR for four years in a row.

[Satyr3206]

1 minute ago, Frobby said:

I'd probably hold my nose and choose Donaldson for 2017.   I don't like him much, but you have to give him his due.   He's been over 7 rWAR for four years in a row.

Just looked at some stats and you and Art might be right about Donaldson. I still don't have to like it.

[ArtVanDelay]

14 minutes ago, ChuckS said:

Clearly that's what I am doing.  

I wasn't ranking how they performed in 2016.  That would be kind of pointless. 

Your definition of "clearly" must be different than mine.  It seemed like you were saying Manny is already the best 3B in the division.  That's what I was arguing with.  I prefer to see Manny actually outplay Donaldson before I annoint him better than Donaldson.  If you're saying that Manny is going to be better in 2017, then that's different.  But there was nothing clear about your post. 

[Babypowder]

Yeah, I'll wait until Manny outplays Donaldson once before I start even entertaining the thought that he is better. Donaldson is on another tier offensively because he has plate discipline that Manny just hasn't shown.

Aside from that I generally agree with the rankings. I think DH is a tossup and could be pretty tight between the O's, Sox, Yanks. Trumbo and Carters career numbers are very similar and they have what could be productive platoon partners with them. If Hanley Ramirez is actually slated to DH for the Sox and not Moreland, he's the best hitter of the bunch.

[ChuckS]

43 minutes ago, ArtVanDelay said:

Your definition of "clearly" must be different than mine.  It seemed like you were saying Manny is already the best 3B in the division.  That's what I was arguing with.  I prefer to see Manny actually outplay Donaldson before I annoint him better than Donaldson.  If you're saying that Manny is going to be better in 2017, then that's different.  But there was nothing clear about your post. 

These rankings reflect the 2017 rosters and we are month before the start of the 2017 season.  Didn't realize I needed to include a disclaimer to avoid confusion. Regardless, this is too nominal of a point to keep arguing.