Season 27 AL EAST Preview

AL East
Rochester came out of nowhere last season going from 78 wins to 98 wins and winning the division. It was their first division title in 16 seasons.  Boston finished  2nd last season.  It was their 5th straight winning season.  Although they took a step back last season, I'm sure ownership is pressuring to get them back to the World Series again.  Durham finished with 90 wins last season and still finished 3rd.  Shows you how tough this division is.  Durham has had 8 straight winning seasons and have been to the playoffs every single season. With $123 mil in payroll, Durham looks to be making another World Series push.  Let face it.  The condition Indianapolis inherited a few seasons ago was a mess I'm sure.  It was on auto pilot for 4 seasons.  Indianapolis is rebuilding and I'm sure will be a force in the near future.

Boston Pilgrims
Owner-kjmulli(13th Season)
Last Season-91-71(2nd Place)
Last 5 seasons-481-329(.594)
Payroll-$93.6m
Draft Pick-27th

Boston appears to be scaling back a bit as they trimmed $24 million off the payroll from last season.  Defense looks really strong.  They have a couple of the top hitting players in the league, but after that it really falls off.    I see this offense falling right in the middle of the stats.  Their pitching  also seems about average.  I don't think this team is going to win 91 games again.

Durham Doormats
Owner-Alogman1(18th Season)
Last Season-90-72(3rd Place)
Last 5 seasons- 500-310(.617)
Payroll-$123.2m
Draft Pick-82nd

Another all in season for Durham.  Defense looks really strong.  And their offense might be the best one in the division.  A very slow team.  Don't expect anyone to stretch a double into a triple.  And their pitching looks really strong this season as well.  Is this finally going to be the season Durham gets over the hump and wins the American League?

Indianapolis Valhalla Varauders
Owner-qtip32 (3rd Season)
Last Season-59-103(4th)
Last 5 seasons-280-530(.346)
Payroll-$58.5m
Draft Pick-3rd

A franchise that has struggled under previous management.    Defense is middle of the road.  Their offense really lacks pizazz(Not Pizza, silly!).  A real lack of power on the team.   The pitching staff is really gonna hurt this season as well.  Hopefully they can get out of those bad contracts that they inherited and get some good draft picks for the future.

Rochester Retards
Owner-Wylie725(7th Season)
Last Season-98-64(1st Place)
Last 5 seasons- 417-393(.515)
Payroll-$97.9m
Draft pick- 34th

Is this team even PC?  I can't imagine even seeing that team jersey.    Anywho!  Rochester got really ambitious after 98 wins last season, pouring an additional $12 million into payroll.  Defense looks middle of the road.  Their offense is really not very impressive.  I'd put them in the bottom half of the American League.  Speed and basrunning about average.  Their pitching looks pretty darn good this season.  Is it 98 wins good?  I don't think so.

Predictions
I see Durham winning this division pretty easily.  Maybe even winning 100 games.  Boston and Rochester should have a good battle for second.  Probably one of those teams will get a wildcard with wins in the high 80's.  I think Indianapolis is going to have another rough season and be competing with Milwaukee and Kansas City for next seasons first pick.

1. Durham
2. Boston
3. Rochester
4. Indianapolis