2010 Season Review: AL East

We conclude our review of the 2010 MLB season by taking a look at the American League East.

BaseballGB predictions

 

Tampa Bay Rays (96-66)

2010 figured to be a crucial year for the Rays.  After making the World Series in 2008, the Rays slipped back to third in the AL East in 2009, so the team was keen to prove that they were not just a one-year wonder.  The Front Office and the fans were also looking ahead to 2011 and the prospect of several key players hitting free agency, while the Rays’ payroll would reduce.

It wasn’t quite ‘now or never’; however there was a real sense that this year was a big opportunity for Tampa Bay.  Cliff Lee proved to be their downfall in the American League Division Series against the Texas Rangers, but it would be harsh to label the year as a failure.  Winning the AL East to reach the postseason was a considerable achievement in itself, something that may become even more apparent in 2011 when the Rays will have to recover from losing several players to richer teams.

Carl Crawford had a great year in 2010, but he’s recently joined division rivals the Boston Red Sox on a seven year/$142m contract that is a long way beyond the Rays’ means. Their bullpen will also be hit by free agent departures.  The Rays benefitted considerably from an excellent reliever duo in Rafael Soriano and Joaquin Benoit, yet the latter has already signed a three-year deal with the Detroit Tigers and Soriano doesn’t appear to be heading back to the Rays.  Losing key players is always a blow; losing them while you’re trying to compete with the might of the Red Sox and Yankees is potentially catastrophic.

The Rays will not be waving the white flag though.  They’ll keep on doing what has made them successful in the last couple of years: developing young talent and picking up a few useful bargains along the way.  Evan Longoria led the team in 2010 with another brilliant year at the hot corner, B.J. Upton played an excellent centre field while contributing notably with the bat, and John Jaso impressed in his rookie season.  Meanwhile former number one draft pick David Price was a Cy Young award contender. 

There’s no doubt that there’s a strong core here and the team is ably managed by Joe Maddon, the question is whether they can fill in the gaps on a budget and still go toe-to-toe with the Yankees and the re-tooled Red Sox in 2011?  The fact that this is even a question shows just how far this team has come over the past three seasons and you wouldn’t bet against them continuing to defy the odds. 

New York Yankees (95-67)

The Yankees judge themselves on winning World Series, so 2010 was a disappointment as they failed to retain their championship.  They brushed aside the Twins in the Division Series after winning the Wild Card (in truth, they didn’t push to win the division in the final week of the regular season as they knew they would get to the postseason regardless), but were outplayed by the Texas Rangers in the Championship Series, losing 4-2.

The Bronx Bombers had the best offence in the Majors (5.30 runs scored per game) and second baseman Robinson Cano was at the heart of the team’s success.  He played in all but two of the Yankees’ regular season games, amassing exactly 200 hits, including 29 home runs, while putting up a .319/.381/.534  batting line and winning a gold glove for his defence. 

The Yankees received good contributions from a host of other players, including Alex Rodriguez, Nick Swisher and, after a slow start, Mark Teixeira.  However, Derek Jeter had a relatively poor year, leading to some acrimony recently during discussions for a new three-year contract.  Whether that was a one-year blip or the start of the end for ‘the Captain’ will be a key topic in 2011, as will the future of Jorge Posada, whose best days are clearly in the past.  Needless to say, the Yankees are not in danger of becoming an average team anytime soon, but time catches up with every player and how they deal with the diminishing returns from recent greats, and the political/PR side to it, will be fascinating.

It was a mixed story when it came to the pitching staff. CC Sabathia won 21 games and came third in the AL Cy Young award voting, but  fellow 08/09 offseason recruit A.J. Burnett had a disastrous year and the reacquisition of Javier Vazquez in a 09/10 offseason trade with the Atlanta Braves went as badly as the pitcher’s last stint in the Big Apple.

The Yankees have endured a frustrating offseason so far, capped by Cliff Lee’s recent decision to spurn their advances and rejoin the Phillies.  It’s not the Yankees’ style to take a back seat and, despite having a team more than capable of getting back to the postseason, there’s a lingering feeling that General Manager Brian Cashman might complete a major trade in due course.  As always, it’s never dull with the Yankees.

Boston Red Sox (89-73)

Reviewing the Red Sox’s 2010 season midway through December is fortuitously useful because their 2010/11 offseason activities are crucial in placing it in context.

The Red Sox’s General Manager Theo Epstein prompted outrage from some quarters of Red Sox Nation when he hinted at 2010 being a “bridge year”.  Fenway tickets are not cheap, so fans in Boston had some reason to question what could have been seen as a ‘giving up on 2010’ statement. 

That clearly wasn’t Epstein’s intention and that was shown by the fact that the team won 89 games despite several key players missing significant time (Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, Victor Martinez and Josh Beckett to name four), with relative unknowns such as Daniel Nava and Darnell McDonald playing more games than even they could have imagined in their most optimistic dreams.

Boston, like the Yankees, are not interested in being a very good team; they want to win World Series.  After a crushing end to 2009 at the hands of the L.A. Angels, the roster needed work to bring it up to that level and the Red Sox Front Office looked at what was available (and the cost, in terms of contracts or trading prospects) and decided that the opportunities simply were not there.  They made a few moves with differing outcomes (Adrian Beltre’s one-year deal worked out brilliantly, the first year of John Lackey’s five-year deal was relatively mediocre) and ultimately they fell short.

Yet the recent signings of Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez, plus the revamping of the bullpen with Bobby Jenks and Dan Wheeler, show how a bit of patience can pay off.  Even teams with vast resources sometimes have to take a breath before launching another World Series charge. 

Few will mind thinking of 2010 as a bridge year if it turns out to be a bridge to a third World Series championship in eight years.  With these additions, Pedroia and Youkilis returning to full fitness and younger players like Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz and Daniel Bard all establishing themselves as important contributors in 2010, that may well happen.

Toronto Blue Jays (85-77)

Who would have thought that the Blue Jays’ year would have turned out so well? 

Their fans certainly did not expect to feel such enjoyment.  Roy Halladay had been traded away to the Philadelphia Phillies, depriving them of their one true great player and definitively stating that the team was rebuilding.  Blue Jays fans settled in for a long summer, the only comfort being that they didn’t have to witness Halladay pitching against them for the Yankees or Red Sox.

Despite the gloomy outlook, the Blue Jays’ manager Cito Gaston was able to bring his career to an end with his team securing a winning record.  Blue Jays fans also rode the incredible magic carpet ride that was Jose Bautista’s 54 home run season.  Nobody saw it coming, and we may not see it again, but that only made it all the more fun.

Along with Bautista’s blasts, Vernon Wells made his contract look marginally less expensive with a strong year and Shaun Marcum, Ricky Romero, Brett Cecil and Brandon Morrow all pitched well.  The latter produced the most memorable game of the Blue Jays’ season on 8 August, pitching eight and two-third innings of no-hit baseball against the Rays only for Evan Longoria to scupper the no-hit bid at the last.  Morrow struck out seventeen batters and showed why he had been seen as a top prospect in the Seattle Mariners’ farm system before moving to Toronto as part of the Halladay-Lee three-way trade over the 09/10 offseason.

The Blue Jays are rebuilding under General Manager Alex Anthopolous, but that’s no bad thing.  One year into his reign, you have to say he’s done an excellent job.  The youth movement is continuing as Marcum was recently traded to the Brewers for exciting second-base prospect Brett Lawrie and the highly respected John Farrell has left his job as pitching coach for the Red Sox to take over from Gaston as the Blue Jays’ new manager.

Toronto will not be fighting the Rays, Yankees and Red Sox for a playoff place in 2011, but they’ll be a good team with promise of being even better in years to come.

Baltimore Orioles (66-96)

The Orioles would like to have the same reason for hope as the Blue Jays do.  2010 was another terrible year in Baltimore and fans at Camden Yards have to wonder if their fortunes will ever change.

There was some optimism heading into the season.  The Orioles had a group of young players with the potential to turn into a team to be proud of, in the same way that the Cincinnati Reds have turned themselves into division winners again.  The batting lineup could include Nick Markakis, Adam Jones, Matt Wieters, Felix Pie and Nolan Reimold, while they had a number of promising arms in Brian Matusz, Brad Bergeson, Chris Tillman and Jake Arrieta in the organization. 

However, promise didn’t turn into performance in 2010.  The team lost 16 of their first 18 games and manager Dave Trembley was fired with the team languishing with a 15-39 record. 

It was decided that the team needed an experienced manager to lead the young charges and consequently Buck Showalter was appointed to the position.  The Orioles went 34-23 after he joined and while that shouldn’t be taken as a sign of dramatic progress, it does suggest that his attention to detail could be just what the team needs.  Positive years by younger players like Matusz, Markakis and Jones, as well as good contributions from veterans like Luke Scott, Jeremy Guthrie and Brian Roberts (despite missing over half the season due to injury), show that this team is not a lost cause.

The only problem for the Orioles is that, unlike the Reds, they play in the AL East.  Any weakness is exemplified when you have to play in this division and Baltimore could continue to rack up the losses over the next couple of seasons.