American League East Handicapping / Gambling Futures
Hard to believe that the Boys of Summer are almost back. Ready to start baseball betting? Teams have reported to 2010 Major League Baseball training camps and it’s time to start our division by division MLB predictions previews for the year.
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AL East
Expect the division to have the two trusty superpowers (Yanks and Red Sox) a young, well-assembled squad (Rays) and two invalids (Orioles, Blue Jays). New York and Boston are still outspending everyone, Tampa will be formidable if some major questions can be answered. Baltimore has a couple of pieces yet is still a pretender and Toronto got legitimately worse.
American League – Odds TO WIN 2010 MLB American League East
BALTIMORE ORIOLES +2000
BOSTON RED SOX +105
NEW YORK YANKEES -110
TAMPA BAY RAYS +560
TORONTO BLUE JAYS +2500
New York Yankees Prediction: 1st AL East
The Evil Empire is right back where (they feel) they belong: on top. Last year’s World Series champs fully intend to be back there in 2010, and they certainly could be. The losses of Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon were augmented by OFs Curtis Granderson and Randy Winn and DH Nick Johnson. Strikeout king Javier Vazquez came over from Atlanta for another tour of duty in the Bronx. New York has the horses in all elements to be back deep in October baseball.
Boston Red Sox Prediction: 2nd AL East
With the addition of John Lackey from Anaheim, the BoSox likely will have the best pitching rotation in baseball. Lackey joins an already stacked collection of Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz and Daisuke Matsuzaka. The Red Sox will have less pop than other years in the past decade; that might just be their undoing. Losing the offensive production of OF Jason Bay will hurt no matter how you slice it. If the Red Sox can mash like they need to, they’ll keep up to the Yanks… but can they? Will they?
Tampa Bay Rays Prediction: 3rd AL East
There is talent littered all over Tampa’s roster, but the question is whether it can work cohesively enough to hurdle the big-budget AL East powerhouses. The offense is well documented; Carlos Pena is a homerun machine and Evan Longoria is a great young hitter. James Shields and Matt Garza, the top two in the rotation, are excellent; a huge question is how Jeff Niemann, David Price and Wade Davis pitch below them. If they pitch well, the Rays could be a very, very tough team to negotiate. 
Baltimore Orioles Prediction: 4th AL East
Steady veteran pitcher Kevin Millwood was acquired from Texas to anchor the rotation, that will help fellow hurler Jeremy Guthrie considerably. All is not totally hopeless for the O’s – they have some decent talent. Outfielders Nick Markakis and Adam Jones are strong, Matt Wieters is exciting behind the dish and the aging Miggy Tejada is back for another tour of duty. However, in this tough division Baltimore just doesn’t have enough pieces to be a tour-de-force.
Toronto Blue Jays Prediction: 5th AL East
Some nice prospects were acquired in the deal with Philadelphia for consummate ace Roy Halladay. The downside is that these guys won’t help this season; Toronto won’t be very good. Two-bagger Aaron Hill and OF/DH Adam Lind are great hitters, but it’s just not going to be enough for the Jays to contend. The pitching staff is rife with either injury concerns or unproven commodities. The rebuild is on north of the border.
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