It's unusual that a team that finished third leapfrogs to the top as the odds-on favorite before a pitch has been thrown the following season. But the Red Sox weren't your average third place team, and they certainly didn't have your average offseason.
By contrast, the Yankees had what appears to be their worst offseason in years. Barring a free agent signing from the slim pickings still available, the Yankees will head into the season with a very questionable back end of the starting rotation after missing out on Cliff Lee and watching helplessly as Andy Pettitte decided to call it quits. If that weren't enough to ruin GM Brian Cashman's winter, negotiations with Derek Jeter proved more difficult than expected and then Cashman had to explain away his suggestion that the team may eventually move Jeter to the outfield.
But make no mistake, the Yankees will not be pushovers. They return the core of the most productive offense in baseball last season, and the additions of bounce-back candidate Russell Martin and fourth outfielder Andruw Jones should only help. The Yanks also added Rafael Soriano, who joins Mariano Rivera as arguably the game's most dominating late inning combo.
Whether it's the Red Sox or Yankees who come out on top likely won't be determined until September, and there's a good chance whoever finishes second will still be in the playoffs as the Wild Card. But until the Yankees figure out how to get solid starts out of pitchers besides C.C. Sabathia and Phil Hughes, the Red Sox have to be considered the favorite.
Of course, neither the Red Sox nor the Yankees won the AL East last year; that honor went to the Tampa Bay Rays. But the Rays will have an uphill battle to keep up after an offseason that saw them lose a bunch of key pieces. In addition to losing Crawford to the Red Sox and Soriano to the Yankees, Tampa Bay will also have to do without Matt Garza, Carlos Pena and Jason Bartlett in 2011.
The Rays still have a great young nucleus featuring the likes of Evan Longoria, David Price and B.J. Upton, as well as up-and-coming prospects like Desmond Jennings and Jeremy Hellickson. And the Rays' affordable signings of Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon should ensure they still put some runs on the board. They might stand a chance of winning any other division, but uncertainty in the bullpen puts them clearly behind the Red Sox and Yankees in the AL East.
As has been the case for quite some time, Baltimore and Toronto are unlikely to challenge the Red Sox for AL East supremacy. It should be mentioned, however, that both the Orioles and Blue Jays have had excellent offseasons.
The Orioles, who finished near the bottom of the league in runs scored last season, have completely rebuilt their offense, adding Mark Reynolds, Vladimir Guerrero, Derrek Lee and J.J. Hardy. And SP Justin Duchscherer could prove to be one of the best low-budget free agent signings of the winter if he can somehow stay healthy.
The Blue Jays added underrated speedster Rajai Davis and several solid bullpen arms: Frank Francisco, Octavio Dotel and Jon Rauch. Most importantly, they somehow managed to convince the Angels to take on the four years and $86 million remaining on Vernon Wells' contract.
The O's and Jays' moves suggest that the AL East is getting deeper, but the Red Sox are the only top team in the division that had a good winter. It's tough enough to win a division, let alone the World Series. The San Francisco Giants epitomize how unpredictable the playoffs can be. But as pitchers and catchers prepare to report to Spring Training, the Red Sox stand as good a chance as anybody of taking home another title.
