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Let’s take a peek to 2023, when the Yankees and Red Sox are predicted to finish fourth and fifth, respectively, in the AL East.
THE DAILYTIME MLB specialists will present you with a weekly Batting Around roundtable that will analyse pretty much anything throughout the course of the season. Everything from the most recent information to a query about history to predictions for baseball’s future. We discussed the competition for the NL wild card last week. We’ll discuss two poor AL East opponents this week.
Which AL East team will get back to the postseason first: Red Sox or Yankees?
R.J. Anderson: The Yankees are my choice. On paper, they had a much better team going into this season. However, I believe they have kept their advantage in top-tier talent despite the fact that it hasn’t quite worked out that way. Even while it doesn’t guarantee anything, having Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole nearby makes it simpler to field a strong club. Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer are two potential young players on the rise for the Red Sox, and they also have an intriguing wild card to play this winter when it comes to filling their top administrative position. Perhaps they’ll select someone who advances more quickly than I anticipate. Okay, that makes sense.
Matt Snyder: As R.J. noted, the Yankees have a significantly stronger foundation with Cole and Judge. Carlos Rodón can still have a strong season in 2024, and it appears that they have found something in Michael King. Beyond Judge, there are plenty more talented young players who have already made their big-league debuts, including Gleyber Torres, who plays the position. The Yankees will undoubtedly be proactive in the winter as a result of their decline from 99 wins to missing the playoffs. The Rafael Devers-Alex Verdugo-Masataka Yoshida core isn’t as strong as the Yankees’, and the Red Sox are rearranging their front office and pitching staff in general. This isn’t actually that close, in my opinion. The obvious choice is the Yankees.
Dayn Perry: Yankees, I’ll say. They already have the superstar foundation in place with Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole, in part explaining this. The fact that their ownership group seems to care something about winning, as opposed to the Sox’s owners, who don’t seem to care at all, is one factor in this. Hal Steinbrenner is not a competent team manager; yet, he is now a better option than John Henry. Additionally, I believe that the Bronx is experiencing a sense of desperation that may motivate them to be more active this winter.
Michael Axisa: Without knowing who the Red Sox will hire to replace Chaim Bloom, it’s difficult to make a prediction. In 2024, will someone hit the gas pedal to the metal and go for it, or will they continue Bloom’s gradual ascent? The former is more likely, as evidenced by Bloom’s termination. Even yet, I still think the Yankees have a greater chance of being the first team to the postseason. Cole and Judge are about as excellent a foundation as you can have in this sport, and they’re considerably better at assembling a pitching staff 1–13 thanks to players like Anthony Rizzo and Gleyber Torres. The Red Sox are not one of those few teams that routinely construct bullpens as good as New York, or at least they weren’t under Bloom. Despite how badly this season went for the Yankees, they are still in a strong position to finish with a winning record, and it won’t take much imagination to predict that they will join the other 11 teams in the postseason next year.
