This will be the first of several previews and reviews of the AL East. So lets get right to it.

Baltimore Orioles: The Baltimore Orioles are a young up and coming team. They have some quality players with one being Nick Markakis. They upgraded their pitching by adding Koji Uehara who will reportedly be the #2 Starter. They have the talent ot be a good club in a couple years but don’t expect much thhis year. Brian Roberts wll get his steal and the O’s shouldn’t have trouble scoring runs if they get steady production out of the middle of their line-up.

Toronto Blue Jays:  The Blue Jays as everyone know have probably one of the most dominating pitchers in the league in Roy Halladay. Their rotation has a few question marks after the 3rd starter. They have two very talented outfielders in Alex Rios and Vernon Wells. These two guys will be the biggest part of the offense so expect quite a few runs put up on your team if they play the Jays. Lyle Overbay needs to produce or he is just taking up a spot from a young player that they could call up. I think Toronto has a very balenced team and they have a shot taking the third spot in the AL East.

Tampa Bay Rays: Last year wasn’t a fluke. The Rays have valuable young players and great steady starting pitching. David Price will have a great year if he has he stuff we saw in the post-season. The young core of players will have some new responsibilities since they will have the bulls-eye on their back. Their bullpen has alot of question marks in the closing role if Troy Percival doesn’t stay healthy. Pat Burrell is a great addition for the DH spot. They have to produce runs if they want to compete.

Boston Red Sox: The Red Sox will make the playoffs, okay got that out of the way. The Red Sox as everyone knows have a great core of players and excellent starting pitching. John Smoltz not as good as everyone thinks he still has to pitch against a great offensive division. The Jason Varitek departure is a big loss to the pitching staff because now they have to make the transition to a new catcher in Josh Bard. They will put up tons of runs even against great pitching. We know they have fought against the odds but they are not the loveable losers anymore.

New York Yankees: The Yankees made huge strides in the off-season by signing CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, and Mark Teixeira. They have a great pitching Staff with the first 4 starters. The offense shouldn’t struggle for runs. They may put up the most runs in the league. The center spot in the outfield is undecided between Brett Gardner and Melky Cabrera. The bullpen is a little shaky but if they get to the 8th inning with a lead Damaso Marte and Mariano Rivera will shut teams down. As of now they are the favorites to win the AL East.