The New York Yankees tied for the best record in the AL East last year, losing out on a division title (and postseason bye) via the tiebreaker with the Toronto Blue Jays. What this should tell you is that the Yankees had a decent enough team, albeit one that had a number of players potentially leaving. The nominal setup and closing pitcher have moved to the Mets, the club’s second-best hitter from last season is still on the market, and the only major move the team has made was tendering the qualifying
offer to Trent Grisham, who accepted.
This stands in stark contrast to the rest of the East, where Toronto has committed $266 million to a cadre of pitchers, including top free agent prize so far Dylan Cease. Shane Bieber exercised his player option to stay in the North, KBO MVP Cody Ponce will be a Blue Jay for three seasons, and Tyler Rodgers, one of the better relief pitchers in all of baseball, will help shore up the bullpen. We’ve seen for multiple years now how deep Toronto’s lineup can be, and the pivot to load up on pitching has them on paper ahead of the Yankees for now.
The other playoff team from the division in 2025 was of course the Boston Red Sox, who have been busy in their own right. A pair of trades with the Cardinals netted Sonny Gray and Wilson Contreras, the kind of high-floor moves that compliment the higher-ceiling type players like Roman Anthony and Garrett Crochet that the team already sports. The outstanding question is how much the team is willing to commit in free agency, since by all accounts Alex Bregman was the straw that stirred the 2025 drink and he remains unsigned at time of writing.
Meanwhile, the Baltimore Orioles took a significant step back this past season, raising question about the futures of former top prospects Adley Rutschman and Grayson Rodriguez. The team addressed the latter in a trade for Taylor Ward, now leaving the Angels to figure out if the 26-year-old can effectively return from Tommy John surgery. The Orioles then turned around and acquired Shane Baz from Tampa, who doesn’t boast the potential that Rodriguez did, but Baz did pitch in 2025.
Of course, the big Baltimore move was signing Pete Alonso for five years and $155 million, adding a surplus of power to a lineup that should be more dangerous than it looked for much of 2025. That final year might be a little gnarly but 35 home runs a year, especially if Jackson Holliday can take steps forward and Gunnar Henderson can be more of a 6-7 win player than a 4-5 win player, can bring in plenty of runs.
Last we come to the Rays, who are always going to be maneuvering around in the offseason given their imposed payroll constraints. Signing Steven Matz and Cedric Mullins may help add depth to the roster, but the big three-team deal that sent Brandon Lowe to Pittsburgh, as well as the prospect haul from the abovementioned Baz trade will no doubt generate two or three players that will deeply annoy us.
There’s still time for the Yankees to add talent to the roster — they seem to be the favorites for Cody Bellinger, even while the Tatsuya Imai market seems ice cold. With six weeks to go until Spring Training though, they’re certainly not keeping up with the rest of the division.
