Or at least not the way I expected it to look.
Before the regular season started, I wrote an article predicting that the AL East would look more like how it had fifteen years ago, with the Red Sox and Yankees vying for first place, and the rest of the AL East scuffling and trying to catch up. Given the high expectations around the Red Sox prior to the beginning of the season, and given certain caveats against teams not named the Yankees or Red Sox, I was pretty confident in this take. I even believed in a real possibility of an Orioles vs. Red Sox Wild Card.
Well call me a monkey’s uncle or something! Because that is not what has been happening! The Blue Jays currently sit in first place in the division after sweeping the Yankees in a four-game set. The Rays, as I write this, are one game behind them, and the Yankees are tied at second with them. The Red Sox are in fourth place with a sub-500 record, and the Orioles are more abysmal than anyone could have ever predicted, even the Orioles fans who saw their offseason happen in front of their eyes.
John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
The Blue Jays, when they click, really click. So do the Red Sox, but they’ve gotten in their own way too many times to count. They’re performing under expectations, resulting in the record they currently have. The Rays are benefiting from their spring-training stadium being what it is, in addition to having a solid team that’s not getting injured. Meanwhile, the Yankees are in their annual Summer Swoon, but they’re performing especially badly against AL East opponents this year (remember how the Sox swept them and also won a series against them?), which has marred their ranking in the divisional standings. As for the Orioles, it’s almost definitely too late to salvage their season. We aren’t going to be seeing them in the Wild Card this year, let alone the postseason, thanks to their horrendous rotation and un-clutch offense. (UrinatingTree on Youtube made a great video about their season so far, which you can watch here.)
If we call this time “Right Before the All-Star Break”, did anyone predict the Blue Jays in first? Did anyone predict the Red Sox in fourth? And the most baffling one—did anyone predict the Yankees in third, even if it was for all of a second? I certainly didn’t! Things could certainly change in the ten days before the All-Star break, and almost definitely will after the break. Who knows if even some of my original prediction comes true? It still could! But for now, I was totally wrong.