Best Division in Baseball - Handicapping the AL East

No division in baseball this year is going to be tougher to find the winner than the A.L. East.

Fans had better do their homework before deciding on the winner of the A.L. East because New York, Boston and Tampa Bay all have a shot. All three teams have good pitching and good hitting and all three teams know how to win.

Let’s analyze the teams in the A.L. East to win the division.

MLB Futures: A.L. East

1. Baltimore Orioles +4000 - - Okay, there are a couple of teams in the A.L. East that don’t have a shot. This is one of them. The Orioles will be competitive in a few games this season and are actually good enough to make the playoffs if they played in the A.L. West and the Angels played in the A.L. East, but having to face Tampa Bay, New York and Boston makes winning the A.L. East virtually impossible. No. It is impossible. Betting on the Orioles to win this division is like throwing money down the toilet.

2. Boston Red Sox +125 - - On one hand the bet makes total sense because a team with Daisuke Matsuzaka and Josh Beckett in the starting rotation shouldn’t be going off at above even money to win their division. With Jason Bay, David Ortiz and J.D. Drew swinging the bats, the Red Sox will score runs as well. On the other hand, though, they will have to play against the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees during the entire season so maybe the odds are justified.

3. New York Yankees -120 - - On paper, this team is one of the best ever assembled. Alex Rodriguez should return from his injury and be just as good as he was in 2008. Mark Teixeira hits for both power and average and C.C. Sabbathia was brilliant last year with the Brewers and now returns to the A.L. where he was brilliant in 2007. A.J. Burnett isn’t a bad pitcher either. On paper, these guys appear formidable but taking such short odds in the A.L. East will be hard to do.

4. Tampa Bay Rays +400 - - 4 to 1 on last year’s A.L. representative in the World Series are excellent odds. The Rays haven’t changed from last year’s team and the 2008 experience should set them up well for this year, but Beckett for the BoSox was hurt most of last season and the Yankees improved tons in both the pitching and hitting departments. It’s going to be tough for the Rays.

5. Toronto Blue Jays +2800 - - The Blue Jays have a fantastic ace in their starting rotation in Roy Halladay, who had a 2.78 ERA and 20 and 11 record in 2008, but that’s not good enough because the Jays could have trouble scoring against the Red Sox, Yankees and Rays. The Blue Jays just don’t have the overall team to contend even though both Halladay and Jesse Litsch are good pitchers.

Best Long Shot

Tampa Bay Rays +400 - - Okay, 4 to 1 doesn’t make them a huge long shot but the Rays could find themselves in a similar position in 2009 that they were in 2008 if the Red Sox suffer injuries again and C.C. Sabbathia and A.J. Burnett don’t work out for the Yankees.

And the Winner is…

Boston Red Sox +125 - - I’m having trouble passing up the odds on the Red Sox who should be healthy this season and have two of the top ten pitchers, in my mind, in MLB in Dice-K and Josh Beckett. Their batting line-up will be stronger now that Jason Bay, who they got in that trade that sent Manny Ramirez to Los Angeles last year, has had a year to figure out the A.L. The Yankees will be tough but the Red Sox already have the right chemistry to win the division.