Top to bottom the American League East is easily the most competitive in all of Major League Baseball. Currently, all five teams have at least won as many as they have lost and Boston, New York and Baltimore have three of the top six records in the league.
With the division separated by just 6.5 games from first through last, every team is in contention for the division and wildcard spots.
Every team is also in win now mode with the Red Sox retooling this past offseason, the Blue Jays going on a spending spree and the Rays, Yankees and Orioles all in contention (with the latter two playing in the ALDS) in 2012.
[divide]
Buyer: New York Yankees
The Yankees, like the Rays, are not in a position to add considerable payroll this season unless it’s for a rental. The number one priority for now is not bloating the 2014 payroll in preparation for trying to stay under the self-imposed $189 million dollar salary cap.
With that said, the rag-tag team of scrap heap players in the twilight of their careers (mostly) has out-produced expectations, sporting a 42-34 record and guaranteeing a successful first half to the season, 2.5 games behind the Red Sox for the division’s lead.
The Yankees have elite pitching. The rotation and bullpen have combined to give up the second least runs in the AL, have a top three staff ERA and the best save conversions in the league. In other words, the rotation and bullpen are both performing well and offer depth.
Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes and a couple of other arms could all be considered a surplus, especially as Michael Pineda and Vidal Nuno rehab their ways back into the majors and Ivan Nova is healthy and at the MLB level again.
That leaves the offense, which is anemic. The Yankees have also scored just 297 runs, leaving them 12th in the AL overall. They have one home run from the right side of the plate since June 5th and it was hit by Jayson Nix, the utility man and 25th man on the roster in 2012.
The Yankees need a right-handed bat and a middle of the order bat, even with Curtis Granderson, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Francisco Cervelli looming in various forms of rehab. Ronnie Mustelier, if healthy, can be a solution for one until A-Rod presumably steps foot in the majors again (if it happens this year), but the Bronx Bombers can definitely benefit from some “bombs” out of a corner infielder.
Needs: Right-handed, power bat, Corner Infielder.
[divide]
Buyer: Tampa Bay Rays
The Rays do not typically buy much whether it’s the deadline or the winter. The offense has produced better than expected and is fifth in the league in runs, helped by the callup of uber prospect, Wil Myers. Tampa’s main issue is closing out games.
The Rays have a 5.14 ERA in “close and late” situations, 4.85 with the score tied and are 18 of 28 in save situations. For a team sixth in bullpen ERA and relief innings, the Rays could use a reliever on the cheap.
With Tampa’s past success in finding relievers who have career years and an influx of arms on the market along with a deep farm system, they have a fighting chance at finding some extra arms to help finish games. As always, another bat couldn’t hurt and with Tampa’s defense, they could solely be used for hitting.
Needs: Late-inning reliever, DH.
[divide]
Buyer: Boston Red Sox
Another area where offense is not the issue. The Sox have a comfortable lead in the AL in runs scored and seemed to have successfully revamped its offensive attack over the winter. Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz have been solid (until recently), John Lackey encouraging and Ryan Dempster has cut it as back-end starter.
Still, Lester’s recent struggles have ballooned his ERA north of 4.50, Buchholz is on the DL and the Sox can use a starter for the back of the rotation pretty badly so Allen Webster can stop pretending he’s major league ready.
It’s still safe to assume Boston has enough bullpen arms to figure something out despite the 12th worst bullpen ERA, 11 blown saves and a 1.41 total WHIP for relievers, but the Sox could use yet another arm to sure up games late.
Currently, Joel Hanrahan is out for the year, Andrew Bailey has been knocked out of the closer’s role and Junichi Tazawa and Koji Uehara are being relied upon to close games after the sixth or seventh inning when in reality they shouldn’t be pitching in the eigth or ninth innings for a World Championship caliber team.
Boston is probably tired of making deals for reliable relievers and having it backfire, but they may be in a position to try it again next month.
Needs: Starter, late-inning reliever.
[divide]
Buyer: Baltimore Orioles
The Red Sox might lead the AL in runs, but the Orioles might have the most feared lineup in the league. Baltimore ranks: 2nd in runs, doubles, 1st in HR, 4th in SB and top three in: OPS, BB, RBI and K. They are stacked at every offensive position except DH.
The pitching? A different issue. The Orioles are far from last year’s version of improved rotation and dominant bullpen. Baltimore is 29/44 in save opportunities and sports the second worst ERA in the AL along with the most home runs given up by 10 over the last place Astros. They are the anti-Yankees.
While the rotation has taken a few steps back due to injury (Wei-Yin Chen) and ineffectiveness (Kevin Gausman and Jason Hammel), the bullpen is no longer compensating and has been just “average”. Dylan Bundy, the Orioles’ stop pitching prospect is injured, so it’s no promise the farm system can be an exit strategy either. Baltimore needs a starter, badly and his name is not “Freddy Garcia“.
Needs: Starting pitching
[divide]
Buyer: Toronto Blue Jays
The Blue Jays are back from the dead and picked the right division to play Jekyll and Hyde. Toronto, once a laughingstock in April and May, has exploded back to .500 and will welcome back Jose Reyes.
The hottest team in baseball has lost back to back games but won 11 in a row at one point to shoot back into contention, sitting a safe 6.5 games out of the division lead.
The Jays are overly reliant on the long ball again (2nd in HR but 8th in runs scored) but a lot of the offensive issues can be solved in-house. Melky Cabrera is not hitting and acquiring him has proven him to be more the pre-steroid Melky, which makes him an over-payment.
However, the Blue Jays already have Rajai Davis on the roster to split time if necessary. While Mazier Izturis has been nothing to brag about at third base, Brett Lawrie is recovering on the DL so Toronto is not likely to make a deal there either.
Adam Lind has exploded as the team’s DH and the offense is good enough to keep making a run.
Like most of the division, the issue has been with pitching. Josh Johnson has been red hot since his return from the DL, which has largely helped compensate for struggles out of Mark Buehrle and RA Dickey, and Chien-Ming Wang in a small sample size has done a solid job rounding out the rotation.
Toronto is middle of the road on the season in pretty much everything, but the rotation has the lowest ERA in the league (2.57) in the month of June along with the third lowest bullpen ERA (2.95).
It’s those sorts of pitching remedies which has Toronto with a pulse again (and a strong second half from Dickey or Buehrle could help), but another pitcher and reliever to provide depth couldn’t hurt.
Needs: Back-end starter, late-inning reliever.
