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OOTPRealTime · 12-01-2013, 12:30 PM

OFF-SEASON OUTLOOKS: AL EAST
MLB.com - by: Matthew Lurch

This is installment No. 4 of the off-season outlooks feature. We'll take a look at the expensive American League East division and take a look back at 2013 and preview each organizations off-season focus.

2013 Recap: The Orioles took a step back after an over-achieving 2012 season. They finished 74-88 and in dead last in the AL East a year ago. So, it's back to the drawing board. They have the breakout player of the year in 1B Chris Davis, who belted a MLB-best 50 homers and added 129 RBI. Davis took the focus off of the rest of the mediocre Baltimore performance. The fact is, this roster needs to keep up with the improving Blue Jays and the mainstays Yankees, Red Sox and Rays. The foundation is there on offense with Adam Jones, Matt Wieters, Davis and Manny Machado. The pitching is expected to get a boost now that they believe top prospect Dylan Bundy is ready for the show. They are at a crossroads and will take on this next stage of development under new leadership after the ousting of GM Dan Duquette following the season. They hired Sandy Alomar Jr. to take over the reigns.

Off-Season Preview
Free Agents: 2B Brian Roberts; SP Jason Hammel; MR Joel Pineiro; OF Nate McLouth; IF Alexi Casilla; MR Luis Ayala; 3B Wilson Betemit; P Brian Matusz; MR Troy Patton.

Alomar wasted no time putting his mark on this team. He traded 28-year old reliever Pedro Strop to the Indians for 21-year old prospect Jake Sisco. He promises to be aggressive to re-build this roster. Expect the O's to focus on improving the pitching staff around Bundy and allowing the young offensive pieces to develop. Alomar will let some aging pieces of the current roster walk - including Brian Roberts - as he works to make this team his own.

2013 Recap: The Red Sox put the disaster of 2012 behind them quickly and bounced back to win 94 games and capture the first wild-card spot. They ran into a hot Matt Moore in that game and lost to division rival Tampa Bay in that one-game playoff. The end result was not indicative of the job performed by GM Ben Cherington and manager John Farrell. They did an outstanding job rebuilding this roster and restore the winning ways in a hurry. Many pundits, yours truly included, balked at the Shane Victorino signing last year. All he did was hit a team-leading .300 even with 16 homers and 89 RBI - hitting mainly out of the 2-hole. They added Mike Napoli who just hit 45 homers and drove in 124. Don’t forget the American League rookie of the year in Xander Boegarts. Add that kind of production to David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury, you’re going to win some games. The offense was really good, but the pitching was superb. They finished first in the league in starters’ ERA (3.62) and bullpen ERA (2.73).

Off-Season Preview
Free Agents: 1B/DH Mike Napoli; MR Joel Hanrahan; SS Stephen Drew; IF Bill Hall; C Jarrod Saltalamacchia; MR Andrew Miller; MR Alfredo Aceves.

Obviously, the loss of Napoli hurts the power production and they’ll have to replace Hanrahan and Miller, who were very good in the bullpen, but that shouldn’t be a problem. Don’t be surprised to see Cherington make a run at Carlos Beltran to solidify the outfield this off-season. The entire rotation will be back and the Red Sox should be in a good position to take the AL East back in 2014.

2013 Recap: The Bombers are in flux. After a season that ended ten games under .500 (76-86), the Yankees and GM Brian Cashman are left searching for answers. They locked up both Robinson Cano (7-years, $119 Million) and Curtis Granderson (2-years, $28 Million) to avoid them going on the open market. Cano was great again, hitting .294 with 32 homers and 96 RBI and Cashman shocked the world by getting a deal done with new agent Jay-Z before hitting the open market. In June, Cashman flipped veteran Kevin Youkilis to the Angels for catcher Hank Conger who finished the season with 18 homers in just 240 at-bats. He is bad defensively, but has rare power. The pitching in 2013 was abysmal. They are letting their best starting pitcher in Phil Hughes walk in free agency and will need to find cogs to fit and keep the ship afloat. With aging players and big contracts (see: Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez) and not much believed to be on the farm - Cashman has his work cut out for him and that patience from Hank Steinbrenner may be starting to wear thin. The Yankees could be headed for a few years of rebuilding. The farewell tour for all-time great Mariano Rivera was something to behold as ‘Mo’ has closed the book on a storybook career.

Off-Season Preview
Free Agents: SP Phil Hughes; 1B Lyle Overbay; SP Andy Pettitte; SP Jeff Karstens; DH Travis Hafner; RP Chris Bootcheck; OF Ben Francisco.

They are losing Hughes, who was great last season. The focus will be on rebuilding that rotation and bullpen. There is enough offense to get them through. Now Cashman will have to do it without guaranteeing any ridiculous long-term contracts - and that’s going to be tough to navigate. We are going to get a good look at what kind of General Manager he is, starting with this off-season.

2013 Recap: The Rays kept pace in the loaded AL East and ended up downing their rivals, the Red Sox in the one-game wild-card playoff behind Matt Moore. They won 88 games, despite uninspiring numbers, especially with the bats. Their .239 team batting average was ranked 14th in the AL. They did it with starting pitching and great defense. Oh, and by winning at home. The Rays went 52-29 at the Trop. Alex Cobb led the way with a 16-win campaign and a 2.75 ERA. David Price and Jeremy Hellickson chipped in with 15 wins each and ERA’s well under 4.00 on the year. Jake McGee grabbed a hold of the closers role and closed out 39 wins to go with a 2.33 ERA. During the season, the acquired Brandon Belt (SF), Chris Tillman (BAL) and Andrew Cashner (SD) to solidify things via trade. They eventually fell to the Tigers in a highly competitive ALDS series that saw a deciding Game 5 that saw Justin Verlander outduel David Price in Detroit, 2-1. The Rays do it with responsible spending and development in the minor leagues - the model has kept them competitive for a while now and doesn’t appear to be changing.

Off-Season Preview
Free Agents: SS Yunel Escobar; OF/1B Luke Scott; MR Juan Carlos Oviedo; MR Brad Penny; MR Roberto Hernandez; MR Fernando Rodney; MR Kyle Farnsworth; 1B James Loney; C Jose Molina; INF Kelly Johnson; IF/OF Sean Rodriguez; SP Jeff Niemann.

The Rays are moving on from quite a few players on the 2013 roster. They will attempt to rebuild the bullpen around new closer Jake McGee. They will be moving on from Yunel Escobar, who hit just .230 a year ago, going with 23-year old Hak-Ju Lee. They are also comfortable moving on from both Luke Scott (25 HR in ‘13) and James Loney, going younger and cheaper with Belt.

2013 Recap: Often times, trading for or acquiring high-priced players with talent doesn’t equate to success (see Miami Marlins; New York Yankees) - but Jays GM Alex Anthopoulous played the right cards and surrounded the some of the same players the Marlins couldn’t win with in Miami - to get it done. 96 wins and an AL East title was the result. They layed an egg in the ALDS, getting swept out by the eventual Champion Rangers. The offense was explosive, featuring two 40+ home run hitters - Edwin Encarnacion (45) and Jose Bautista (42) to go with table-setter Jose Reyes and resurgent Adam Lind. 2012 NL Cy Young award winner R.A. Dickey was great in his new league - winning 20 games, with a slightly inflated ERA (4.20) and 201 strikeouts. Josh Johnson made out well in his first season in the AL, winning 17 games and posting a team-leading 3.43 ERA. Manager John Gibbons won Manager of the Year for the job he did providing the leadership and pushing the right buttons all year long.

Off-Season Preview
Free Agents: SP Josh Johnson; IF Mark DeRosa; OF Rajai Davis; C Henry Blanco.

The Jays return most of the 2013 roster but will need to replace their top pitcher Josh Johnson, who should net a major contract. If there is one area they could improve, it would be in the bullpen, expect AA to go out and improve in that area and make another run at an AL East title.

12-01-2013, 12:30 PM	#36
OOTPRealTime Minors (Double A) Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 147	AL East Outlooks OFF-SEASON OUTLOOKS: AL EAST MLB.com - by: Matthew Lurch This is installment No. 4 of the off-season outlooks feature. We'll take a look at the expensive American League East division and take a look back at 2013 and preview each organizations off-season focus. 2013 Recap: The Orioles took a step back after an over-achieving 2012 season. They finished 74-88 and in dead last in the AL East a year ago. So, it's back to the drawing board. They have the breakout player of the year in 1B Chris Davis, who belted a MLB-best 50 homers and added 129 RBI. Davis took the focus off of the rest of the mediocre Baltimore performance. The fact is, this roster needs to keep up with the improving Blue Jays and the mainstays Yankees, Red Sox and Rays. The foundation is there on offense with Adam Jones, Matt Wieters, Davis and Manny Machado. The pitching is expected to get a boost now that they believe top prospect Dylan Bundy is ready for the show. They are at a crossroads and will take on this next stage of development under new leadership after the ousting of GM Dan Duquette following the season. They hired Sandy Alomar Jr. to take over the reigns. Off-Season Preview Free Agents: 2B Brian Roberts; SP Jason Hammel; MR Joel Pineiro; OF Nate McLouth; IF Alexi Casilla; MR Luis Ayala; 3B Wilson Betemit; P Brian Matusz; MR Troy Patton. Alomar wasted no time putting his mark on this team. He traded 28-year old reliever Pedro Strop to the Indians for 21-year old prospect Jake Sisco. He promises to be aggressive to re-build this roster. Expect the O's to focus on improving the pitching staff around Bundy and allowing the young offensive pieces to develop. Alomar will let some aging pieces of the current roster walk - including Brian Roberts - as he works to make this team his own. 2013 Recap: The Red Sox put the disaster of 2012 behind them quickly and bounced back to win 94 games and capture the first wild-card spot. They ran into a hot Matt Moore in that game and lost to division rival Tampa Bay in that one-game playoff. The end result was not indicative of the job performed by GM Ben Cherington and manager John Farrell. They did an outstanding job rebuilding this roster and restore the winning ways in a hurry. Many pundits, yours truly included, balked at the Shane Victorino signing last year. All he did was hit a team-leading .300 even with 16 homers and 89 RBI - hitting mainly out of the 2-hole. They added Mike Napoli who just hit 45 homers and drove in 124. Don’t forget the American League rookie of the year in Xander Boegarts. Add that kind of production to David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury, you’re going to win some games. The offense was really good, but the pitching was superb. They finished first in the league in starters’ ERA (3.62) and bullpen ERA (2.73). Off-Season Preview Free Agents: 1B/DH Mike Napoli; MR Joel Hanrahan; SS Stephen Drew; IF Bill Hall; C Jarrod Saltalamacchia; MR Andrew Miller; MR Alfredo Aceves. Obviously, the loss of Napoli hurts the power production and they’ll have to replace Hanrahan and Miller, who were very good in the bullpen, but that shouldn’t be a problem. Don’t be surprised to see Cherington make a run at Carlos Beltran to solidify the outfield this off-season. The entire rotation will be back and the Red Sox should be in a good position to take the AL East back in 2014. 2013 Recap: The Bombers are in flux. After a season that ended ten games under .500 (76-86), the Yankees and GM Brian Cashman are left searching for answers. They locked up both Robinson Cano (7-years, $119 Million) and Curtis Granderson (2-years, $28 Million) to avoid them going on the open market. Cano was great again, hitting .294 with 32 homers and 96 RBI and Cashman shocked the world by getting a deal done with new agent Jay-Z before hitting the open market. In June, Cashman flipped veteran Kevin Youkilis to the Angels for catcher Hank Conger who finished the season with 18 homers in just 240 at-bats. He is bad defensively, but has rare power. The pitching in 2013 was abysmal. They are letting their best starting pitcher in Phil Hughes walk in free agency and will need to find cogs to fit and keep the ship afloat. With aging players and big contracts (see: Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez) and not much believed to be on the farm - Cashman has his work cut out for him and that patience from Hank Steinbrenner may be starting to wear thin. The Yankees could be headed for a few years of rebuilding. The farewell tour for all-time great Mariano Rivera was something to behold as ‘Mo’ has closed the book on a storybook career. Off-Season Preview Free Agents: SP Phil Hughes; 1B Lyle Overbay; SP Andy Pettitte; SP Jeff Karstens; DH Travis Hafner; RP Chris Bootcheck; OF Ben Francisco. They are losing Hughes, who was great last season. The focus will be on rebuilding that rotation and bullpen. There is enough offense to get them through. Now Cashman will have to do it without guaranteeing any ridiculous long-term contracts - and that’s going to be tough to navigate. We are going to get a good look at what kind of General Manager he is, starting with this off-season. 2013 Recap: The Rays kept pace in the loaded AL East and ended up downing their rivals, the Red Sox in the one-game wild-card playoff behind Matt Moore. They won 88 games, despite uninspiring numbers, especially with the bats. Their .239 team batting average was ranked 14th in the AL. They did it with starting pitching and great defense. Oh, and by winning at home. The Rays went 52-29 at the Trop. Alex Cobb led the way with a 16-win campaign and a 2.75 ERA. David Price and Jeremy Hellickson chipped in with 15 wins each and ERA’s well under 4.00 on the year. Jake McGee grabbed a hold of the closers role and closed out 39 wins to go with a 2.33 ERA. During the season, the acquired Brandon Belt (SF), Chris Tillman (BAL) and Andrew Cashner (SD) to solidify things via trade. They eventually fell to the Tigers in a highly competitive ALDS series that saw a deciding Game 5 that saw Justin Verlander outduel David Price in Detroit, 2-1. The Rays do it with responsible spending and development in the minor leagues - the model has kept them competitive for a while now and doesn’t appear to be changing. Off-Season Preview Free Agents: SS Yunel Escobar; OF/1B Luke Scott; MR Juan Carlos Oviedo; MR Brad Penny; MR Roberto Hernandez; MR Fernando Rodney; MR Kyle Farnsworth; 1B James Loney; C Jose Molina; INF Kelly Johnson; IF/OF Sean Rodriguez; SP Jeff Niemann. The Rays are moving on from quite a few players on the 2013 roster. They will attempt to rebuild the bullpen around new closer Jake McGee. They will be moving on from Yunel Escobar, who hit just .230 a year ago, going with 23-year old Hak-Ju Lee. They are also comfortable moving on from both Luke Scott (25 HR in ‘13) and James Loney, going younger and cheaper with Belt. 2013 Recap: Often times, trading for or acquiring high-priced players with talent doesn’t equate to success (see Miami Marlins; New York Yankees) - but Jays GM Alex Anthopoulous played the right cards and surrounded the some of the same players the Marlins couldn’t win with in Miami - to get it done. 96 wins and an AL East title was the result. They layed an egg in the ALDS, getting swept out by the eventual Champion Rangers. The offense was explosive, featuring two 40+ home run hitters - Edwin Encarnacion (45) and Jose Bautista (42) to go with table-setter Jose Reyes and resurgent Adam Lind. 2012 NL Cy Young award winner R.A. Dickey was great in his new league - winning 20 games, with a slightly inflated ERA (4.20) and 201 strikeouts. Josh Johnson made out well in his first season in the AL, winning 17 games and posting a team-leading 3.43 ERA. Manager John Gibbons won Manager of the Year for the job he did providing the leadership and pushing the right buttons all year long. Off-Season Preview Free Agents: SP Josh Johnson; IF Mark DeRosa; OF Rajai Davis; C Henry Blanco. The Jays return most of the 2013 roster but will need to replace their top pitcher Josh Johnson, who should net a major contract. If there is one area they could improve, it would be in the bullpen, expect AA to go out and improve in that area and make another run at an AL East title.