1. Blue Jays
2. Rays
3. Orioles
4. Red Sox
5. Yankees

The Blue Jays, who have stocked, locked and loaded for the 2013 season with the additions of 2012 CY Young Award winner R.A. Dickey, 2011 batting champion Jose Reyes, fireballer Josh Johnson, bugs bunny Emilio Bonifacio, king of cheat Melky Cabrera, Mark Buerhle, plus the return of a healthy Bautista are in prime position to feast on the American League this year. While all the additions look fantastic on paper, we all remember the Marlins last year and how games need to be won between the lines, but I cannot envision that type of disaster north of the border in 2012. As with any club, the 2013 Blue Jays have plenty of question marks. How will Reyes’ legs hold up on turf and how will Dickey’s numbers translate to a full season in the American League. More importantly, will Johnson return to form, while staying healthy and what can J.A. Happ give at the back-end of their rotation. Then there’s the bullpen. Health concerns aside, it is not very deep and if things don’t fall in line, could be the Achilles heal of this club. All that being said, I still foresee the Blue Jays being crowned AL East champs when all is said and done while winning 90-92 games.

The Rays, while losing workhorse James Shields, along with Davis to the Royals for prospect Wil Myers, and B.J. Upton via free agency to the Braves, are a team that can never be counted out. As a Mets fan, I wish my organization had management like the Rays. It seems that no matter who they lose each off-season, they have cheap alternatives waiting in the wing, who equal out the losses, if not improve upon who they have replaced. I feel like the loss of Upton will be offset by a full healthy season from Desmond Jennings and the Rays seem to have young pitching for days. Their biggest questions lay in the health of Longoria, who always seems to be hampered by some type of injury that forces him to miss significant time in the 162 game marathon, and their bullpen depth. Realistic Rays people cannot count on Rodney duplicating last season’s numbers, so a regression from the closer and another guy or two could prove costly. However, these are still the Rays, who seem to hang around and find a way every season. When 2013 is over, they will sit in 2nd place in the AL East with 86 wins.

The Orioles, last year’s Cinderalla story under the eye of manager Buck Showalter, took the AL by storm and made a rare playoff appearance. Led by their superstar Adam Jones, pitching and timely hitting is what carried them to meaningful October baseball. While I have them finishing 3rd, that is not to say they have a worse ball club then their 2012 version, but I just believe they will not be as lucky. In 2012, the Orioles finished 29-9 in 1 run games and 16-2 in extra innings, setting a major league record in 1 run games. Now while some of that can be contributed to skill and managing ability, a lot of that falls on the hands of luck. Expecting lightning to strike twice is just foolish. In a tough division, despite a young, solid lineup with great pitching depth full of mediocre to decent pitchers, the Orioles end up in 3rd place with 85-87 wins.

The Red Sox, absolutely imploded in 2012 thanks to Bobby Valentine and his alienation of almost every veteran that he managed. While the roster has turned over quite a bit, veteran leadership is still present in the form of Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz. The problem I have with the Red Sox is that their core is a group of aging players, who in their prime and when healthy were at the top of their game, but have difficulty remaining on the field. It is hard to provide leadership from the trainer’s room. While the addition of the flying Hawaiin may help the team, he is not the type of guy who can win games single-handedly for a club and unless their pitching takes 10 steps forward and guys like Middlebrooks and Ellsbury can avoid the DL, 4th place is the best they can hope for. With all that being said and with the talent that they have, when healthy, there is no way I can see the Red Sox not improving from last year. They will finish with 80-82 wins, barely holding off the Yankees for the AL East cellar.

The Yankees, while many will think I picked to finish last because I absolutely despise their fan base, are just too old and not healthy enough to finish anything better than last in the AL East. Let’s start with the positives; Cano is their best hitter and he is healthy, Rivera is back and healthy and all ready for his 2013 farewell tour, and CC Sabathia is currently healthy after off-season elbow surgery. The not so positive; Jeter still can’t run the bases, A-Rod is most likely done for the season with 2 bad hips and even more PED allegations, Teixeira may or may not return this season after an injury in the WBC and even if he does return, will the power follow? Granderson will miss at least the first month and besides monster HRs, brings very little in terms of average and defense, Vernon Wells and Lyle Overbay as every day players to start the season, Phil Hughes’ back, no catchers and I could keep going. Basically, aside from Cano, and possibly Youkilis, the Yankees are barely fielding a major league lineup. They are going to be very reliant on CC staying healthy and having no setbacks with that elbow, and the aging Kuroda and Pettite to remain healthy all season and pitch great baseball all season long. For a team this old, and with their lack of depth, there are just too many injuries and question marks. Unless George Steinbrener gets resurrected along with an extra $100 million in payroll and or major league ready prospects, I just can’t see this team finishing with more than 78 wins.