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AL East Power Rankings After Wild Start to Offseason

By Steven Kubitza

The Yankees remain the team to beat in the AL East.
The Yankees remain the team to beat in the AL East. / Mike Stobe/Getty Images

The American League East remains one of the most competitive divisions in baseball with all of the star power continuing to rise through the ranks (though he can't say that for the Orioles). And now, after a wild start to the offseason, it looks like we have even more big names coming to the division.

Let's take a look at the power rankings in the AL East since the end of the 2019 season.

5. Baltimore Orioles

The Orioles remain in a rebuilding phase.
The Orioles remain in a rebuilding phase. / Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

The Orioles lost 108 games in 2019. A slight improvement after the 115 losses in 2018. The team has already traded Dylan Bundy and let go of Jonathan Villar in a move that has to have fans feeling hopeless. Chris Davis remains the highest-paid player while the bulk of moves made by the Orioles this offseason have been to acquire young talent via trades and the Rule 5 Draft. Clearly a last-place team.

4. Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jays are building something special.
The Blue Jays are building something special. / Mark Blinch/Getty Images

The Blue Jays shocked the baseball world by winning the Hyun-Jin Ryu sweepstakes. He is going to be the ace in Toronto and could pitch in a playoff game, possibly a few years from now. Adding Tanner Roark and Travis Shaw were also hope-building moves, but the young core is still a year or two away from making the team an actual contender.

3. Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays have to remain creative to win.
The Rays have to remain creative to win. / Tim Warner/Getty Images

The Rays are near the bottom of the league in spending and still made the playoffs in 2019. The team made the cost-cutting move to trade Tommy Pham, which didn't exactly make some people happy. But Tampa did add Hunter Renfroe and had enough success in 2019 to keep the faith in 2020. The pitching staff remains intact and the front office is getting the help they need among the position players.

2. Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox may change up the roster this offseason.
The Red Sox may change up the roster this offseason. / Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

The 2019 season was a down year, but the Red Sox did win the World Series in 2018. A notable move has yet to be made and that may remain the case. The Red Sox have a fortune invested in stars like Chris Sale, J.D. Martinez, David Price, and Mookie Betts. The latter two could be on the way out and a great haul could replenish the roster in Boston for cheap. While the Rays were better than them this past season, this Red Sox team on paper is hard to exclude from the second spot here.

1. New York Yankees

Cole makes the Yankees World Series favorites.
Cole makes the Yankees World Series favorites. / Mike Stobe/Getty Images

Adding Gerrit Cole made it a dominant offseason for the Bronx Bombers. The Yankees also retained Brett Gardner on a one-year deal and signed Aroldis Chapman to an extension. A healthy Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge can make the Yankees even better than the team that took the Astros to six games in the 2019 ALCS. This time, Cole will be in pinstripes and will look to get the Yanks over the hump.