AL East Gets More Competitive, Orioles and Blue Jays Ready to Contend for the East Title
Nick Manzione
Issue date: 3/8/06 Section: Sports
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As April 2 2006 looms closer the American League East has grown more competitive than just the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. Numerous acquisitions have made the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays major contenders.
Starting at the defending AL East Champion New York Yankees, they always seem to have the firepower to be declared the favorite of the East going into the season. Lets not forget they are nine time defending champions. In a disappointing loss to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim last fall in the first round of the playoffs, "the Boss" (George Steinbrenner) has made some changes to that faulty bullpen.
Releasing setup man Tom Gordon was one of the many moves that were needed, considering he wasn't the same "Mr. Clutch" in the playoffs that he was in the regular season. Steinbrenner wanted to have more lefty arms in the bullpen so that's what he did. Acquiring lefties Ron Villone in a trade and signing ex-Red Sock Mike Myers were two of the many moves finalized to strengthen that bullpen. "The Boss" also sought out for a flamethrower to setup Mariano Rivera, and that came in the presence of ex-Brave Kyle Farnsworth. For every good move Steinbrenner always seems to take a risk on someone and that he did once again this off-season. Acquiring right-handed reliever Octavio Dotel from the Oakland A's was another huge risk because of the recent Tommy John surgery. If healthy, it will be proven to be one of the biggest acquisitions of the off-season because of his great ability to be able to setup and close out games if "Mo" needs the rest. All in all it looks like the Bombers have improved significantly in their bullpen status, with of course Mariano Rivera returning with the help of Tanyon Sturtze and hard-throwing Scott Proctor.
Further, one of the many concerns in the 2005 season was who was going to be the next centerfielder after Bernie Williams. Was it going to be Andruw Jones, Torii Hunter, Juan Pierre or ex-Red Sock Johnny Damon? Well Yankee fans would love to see power hitter and big RBI producer Andruw Jones out there, but that was not to be. Who else but ex-Red Sock and Yankee hater Johnny Damon; he will significantly improve their leadoff spot with his on base percentage (OBP), and he is able to cover a lot of ground in centerfield. The Yankees also brought back utility infielder Miguel Cairo after a year in Queens with the New York Metropolitans. He will serve as a utility infielder, mainly to give Robby Cano a break every now and then. The Yankees will be welcoming back sluggers Alex Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield, refurnished Jason Giambi and Hideki Matsui. Team leaders Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada will be entering their 11th season with the team. Lets not forget about that starting rotation with Randy Johnson, Mike Mussina, Shawn Chacon, Chien-Mien Wang and 10-0 phenomenon Aaron Small.
Starting at the defending AL East Champion New York Yankees, they always seem to have the firepower to be declared the favorite of the East going into the season. Lets not forget they are nine time defending champions. In a disappointing loss to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim last fall in the first round of the playoffs, "the Boss" (George Steinbrenner) has made some changes to that faulty bullpen.
Releasing setup man Tom Gordon was one of the many moves that were needed, considering he wasn't the same "Mr. Clutch" in the playoffs that he was in the regular season. Steinbrenner wanted to have more lefty arms in the bullpen so that's what he did. Acquiring lefties Ron Villone in a trade and signing ex-Red Sock Mike Myers were two of the many moves finalized to strengthen that bullpen. "The Boss" also sought out for a flamethrower to setup Mariano Rivera, and that came in the presence of ex-Brave Kyle Farnsworth. For every good move Steinbrenner always seems to take a risk on someone and that he did once again this off-season. Acquiring right-handed reliever Octavio Dotel from the Oakland A's was another huge risk because of the recent Tommy John surgery. If healthy, it will be proven to be one of the biggest acquisitions of the off-season because of his great ability to be able to setup and close out games if "Mo" needs the rest. All in all it looks like the Bombers have improved significantly in their bullpen status, with of course Mariano Rivera returning with the help of Tanyon Sturtze and hard-throwing Scott Proctor.
Further, one of the many concerns in the 2005 season was who was going to be the next centerfielder after Bernie Williams. Was it going to be Andruw Jones, Torii Hunter, Juan Pierre or ex-Red Sock Johnny Damon? Well Yankee fans would love to see power hitter and big RBI producer Andruw Jones out there, but that was not to be. Who else but ex-Red Sock and Yankee hater Johnny Damon; he will significantly improve their leadoff spot with his on base percentage (OBP), and he is able to cover a lot of ground in centerfield. The Yankees also brought back utility infielder Miguel Cairo after a year in Queens with the New York Metropolitans. He will serve as a utility infielder, mainly to give Robby Cano a break every now and then. The Yankees will be welcoming back sluggers Alex Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield, refurnished Jason Giambi and Hideki Matsui. Team leaders Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada will be entering their 11th season with the team. Lets not forget about that starting rotation with Randy Johnson, Mike Mussina, Shawn Chacon, Chien-Mien Wang and 10-0 phenomenon Aaron Small.