Who has a better shot at winning the AL East, the Blue Jays, the Yankees, or someone else?

The Blue Jays.

Definitely too lazy for an explanation, sorry.

The AL East is probably the trickiest division to predict at this point, because no one team is really great, but most of them are at least good. My early pick is the Rays, but it could just as easily be the Jays, Yankees, or Orioles.

I think the Rays are the best team based upon their strong pitching staff. Losing Shields will hurt a little, but the rest of the rotation is so deep and talented that they will be fine. Hellickson, Cobb, and Moore are all very talented and will be quality pitchers. Rodney will not be the pitcher he was in 2012, but he will still be a quality closer. Offense isn't the best, but it will be better with a healthy and productive Evan Longoria, who is my early prediction for AL MVP. Jennings needs to step up to replace the void left by Upton, I think he will do fine, maybe even been than the underperforming BJ Upton.

The Jays added too much not to be taken seriously. After the Marlins disaster, some people will hesitate to jump on the Jays bandwagon, but unlike the Marlins the Jays actually made moves to fill up holes. The rotation is vastly improved, with Dickey, Johnson, and Buehrle all being well above average pitchers, the first two being Cy Young material when healthy. They added speed, something they lacked, and legitimate top of the order players in Reyes and Cabrera. I know Cabrera has the steroids issues, but even with steroids hitting .346 is not something anyone can do, he is a very talented hitter. Bullpen is the one sore spot for me, but that could easily be fixed at the trade deadline if need be.

Yankees still have a lot of good players, but they are battling father time and the injury bug. Rotation after Sabathia is filled with question marks. How long can Kuroda and Pettitte keep it up? Can Nova bounce back and be the pitcher the Yankees expected him to be? Who is the real Phil Hughes? Is he closer to his solid 2012 season, or his awful 2011 one? Bullpen could be an issue as well, with Soriano gone, and Rivera's age and injury concerns. Offense is not what it once was, they lost a lot of homers this offseason with Swisher, Ibanez, and Martin, and they didn't do much to replace them. Granderson, probably their second best player, being injured is a major concern as well. Youkilis will be an okay replacement for A-Rod, but overall expect a weakened offense. I doubt Jeter repeats his resurgent 2012 offensive numbers, and Tex looks like his approach is declining.

Orioles were the surprise team in 2012, but I don't think they will repeat it. They had a much better record than they actually were based upon run differential. In reality they should have been closer to a .500 team. They just did an excellent job in close games and extra innings, in large part thanks to Johnson's dominant season. Expecting him to repeat that would be foolish. Rotation is okay, but lacks a true ace. Offense will be good, but I don't see Chris Davis repeating the year he had. They certainly stand a chance in this tight division, but they are not the favorites in my eyes.

The Red Sox are on the outside looking in. They did make a lot of moves this offseasn, but they didn't address their biggest need, starting pitching. Rather weak looking middle of the lineup doesn't get better with the loss of the productive Ross. I don't get the Victorino signing, the guy is coming off his worst season and he has a similar tool set to Ellsbury. I don't see why they didn't make a serious push at an impact bat like Hamilton or even Swisher instead. Napoli could be good, but injuries are a concern. Even if he's healthy, I don't think he is as good as he played in 2011. Bullpen is better by adding Hanrahan and hopefully having a healthy Bailey.

1. Rays (93-69)

2. Jays (92-70)

3. Yankees (87-75)

4. Orioles (84-78)

5. Red Sox (74-88)

This years AL East standing will be TIGHT.

Blue Jays have a very good team with proven players in a hitters park.

Yankees always have a very good team, so you can almost always expect them to be up there.

Red Sox have assembled a good team.

Orioles are a good team, will likely play consistently all year.

Rays have always assembled good teams from 2008 and now.

1. Yankees 97-65

2. Blue Jays 93-69

3. Rays 92-70

4. Orioles 88-74

5. Red Sox 82-80

^ MY PREDICTIONS

Probably the Yankees. They will stay there at #1 for the next years. Then the Blue Jays, The Red Sox, The Rays, and then the Orioles. All good teams.

Blue Jays

Rays

Orioles

Yankees

Red Sox

Blue Jays or Orioles.

History has shown us that teams that load up on big name players during the off season typically do not do well. The regular season exception to that has been the Steinwienies but they've sustained losses, either due to injury or defection, this winter and their aged team leaders -- Jeter and Rivera -- are trying to return to form after tough injuries.

Toronto added name players but a closer look reveals their additions aren't that impressive. Melky Cabrera was nothing special before he started juicing so I expect his production to slide. Jose Reyes is a troubled, inconsistent player who, truth be told, hasn't played up to his potential for most of his career. RA Dickey's 2012 effort was an anomaly -- his career record was 41-50 heading into last season - and he typically gets lit up by AL teams while Mark Buerhle, though an innings-eater, went just 76-66 over his last six seasons with the White Sox; he's only slightly better than a .500 pitcher at this point in his career.

Look for Tampa Bay or Baltimore to snatch the division from these two overhyped, overrated clubs.

Tampa Bay with it's starting rotation, Longoria playing a full year, proven manager is my choice.

Toronto may finish 2nd as they will inevitably improve. Top pitcher Josh Johnson goes on the DL once per year and Jose Reyes is unpredictable. If those 2 players click they could finish first.

Yankees, at this point in time they are an aging team. I'm picking them to play around .500.

Baltimore. They won 17 straight extra innings games last year and that will not happen again. This year the opposition will be much stronger and the will come back to reality.

The Orioles Mr.Smalls

The Jays