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Major League Baseball’s spring training is only weeks away, and the 2013 season is fast approaching. It also means that it is a new year for every team, each wiping their slates clean. Top teams in the 6 divisions are set to defend their titles, and it’s time for the teams who just missed the wildcard spot to fix their weaknesses and hopefully make the playoffs this year. And for the teams who were particularly awful, well, they can at least think positively and hope for the best. And this is where I come in.
Over the course of the next week, I decided to choose one team from each division, and give you a few reasons why they should be a team to watch for over the course of the 2013 season. Enjoy!
The Baltimore Orioles last season had a fantastic year, finishing 2nd in the AL East with a 93-69 record in the regular season. In the post-season they beat the Texas Rangers in the first year where the one-game Wild Card playoff was introduced, but lost to the Yankees 3 games to 2 in the Division series. No one expected them to do any real damage last season, so it was certainly a great year for them! This year they face similar expectations as it seems a lot of people are not expecting them to repeat last year’s success this upcoming season.
Seeing as this was their first playoff birth since 1997, it makes you wonder why the O’s are being ignored. Well one simple answer could be the fact that they are in the American League East, hands down the hardest division in Major League Baseball. This is a division with the always-tough New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, not to mention the Tampa Bay Rays who have been pretty powerful for at least the past five years. Oh, and last but no way near least, the Toronto Blue Jays, who made so many major moves this off-season with bringing in the likes of R.A. Dickey, Jose Reyes and many more players making their team the new force to be reckoned with. There is also the fact that the O’s did not make any impacting moves in the off-season to make their team better.
Does this mean that the Orioles should be pushed under the rug and be completely ignored? Of course not, although they made no big off-season moves they still kept their team intact and did not lose any of their core young players. If players like Adam Jones and Chris Davis, who both had great seasons with 30-plus homeruns, Jim Johnson, who had a franchise record 51 saves, and other players like Jason Hammel stay healthy and consistent, then there is nothing to worry about.
There are other possible factors within the division too. The Red Sox are coming off an awful season, the Rays have taken a step back with some of their top pitchers being traded away, and let’s face it, the New York Yankees are getting older and A-Rod will be on the disabled list for half of the season due to an injury. The only team that should be in their way because again they have basically a brand new starting rotation and a powerful middle line-up that should strike some fear into teams, but that is it. This means the Jays and the O’s might take the one and two spot in the division this year.
I know this season I will be keeping an eye on the Blue Jays, but I will also be watching the Orioles and see if they can continue their success. Let’s face it, we will not know what will happen until the season starts, but right now it looks like the AL East once again is the toughest division, but might also be the most exciting division to watch. I pick the Orioles as the team to keep an eye on in the AL East, because they seem to be the team that has been forgotten, and I think they will try their best to remind everyone what they did last season and continue it this year.
Thanks for reading. Check back as I give you the team to watch from the NL East.
You can follow me on twitter @NVincelli or follow the site @lastwordonsport
(Notes: All stats are from mlb.com)
