Sportsbook odds favor the New York Yankees to win the American League East this season.Considering the Yankees are also the favorite to win the World Series at the online sportsbook it is somewhat surprising to see them listed as only -130 to win the AL East. Sportsbook lines list the Boston Red Sox as the second choice at even money to win the East. Tampa Bay is 5-1 while Baltimore and Toronto are given no real chance at 20-1 and 25-1 respectively.
New York is the defending World Series champs and there is no reason they can’t repeat. They did lose some players in the off-season but they picked up just as many. They lost Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, and Melky Cabrera but they picked up Curtis Granderson, Nick Johnson and Randy Winn. The Yankees still have the best pitching in the division with CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Andy Pettitte in addition to the best closer in baseball history in Mariano Rivera. New York has one of the best lineups in the game with Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Derek Jeter and others and they are going to be favored a lot this season at the online sportsbook.
Boston lost Jason Bay in free agency so they are going to struggle offensively. They added John Lackey to bolster the rotation and they are going to need him vs. sportsbook odds considering they simply are not as strong offensively. Mike Cameron and Adrian Beltre were added in the off-season but they are really known more for their defense. Boston needs David Ortiz to prove that he can hit again. Ever since the performance enhancing allegations he has not been a very good player.
Tampa Bay has a starting rotation and a lineup that could give New York and Boston some problems. The Rays have a ton of young talent including Evan Longoria, David Price and Ben Zobrist. They added Rafael Soriano in the off-season to solve their closer issues. Tampa is a fun team to watch at the sportsbook as they can win in a variety of ways.
Baltimore can hit but they usually can’t get anyone out. They did add Kevin Millwood but they simply don’t have a lot behind him in the starting rotation. Toronto is not in any better shape as they no longer have Roy Halladay.