AL East

Is it just me or is the AL East a terrible division this year? For all the redundant and tiresome talk on ESPN about the rivalry between Boston and New York, I have come to the conclusion that the AL East may be the second worst division in baseball, behind only the NL West. Let's look at the teams:

New York. OK, they moved into first last night. But their starting pitching is horrible and their defense is laughable. Bernie Williams' error last night was particularly amusing. Yes they can hit the daylights out of the ball. But in the playoffs, that's not enough. And I don't think this is a playoff team.

Baltimore. A surprising team but not enough pitching to compete long term. Well except in this division. Maybe they can pull it out and win the division but they'd almost certainly lose in the first round of the playoffs.

Boston. This is the team that should be winning going away. But between a terrible bullpen and perhaps a sense of complacency they have not played to expectations. Schilling's injury hasn't helped either. I still think they'll win. But they are clearly not as good as last year.

Toronto. That we are even discussing Toronto as a contender shows how poor this division is. With Halladay hurt, there's no point. Nor is there any point discussing Tampa Bay.

Normally I wouldn't care how weak a particular division is. But with the constant talk about how tough the AL East is and how New York and Boston are so great, well it's annoying. So here's hoping that the wildcard team doesn't come from the East and that the division winner, unless maybe it's Baltimore, loses in the first round.