AL East Preview: Season 7

New York Metropolitans (Season 6: 117-45, AL East Champs, Gleeman World Champs)

Even after coming up short in the Masato sweepstakes, the Mets have one of the most dangerous rotations in baseball. Red Wainhouse is coming off of his 3rd Cy Young Award, and still one of the best in the game, and both Gary Long and Gerald Tomlinson are excellent and durable. Depth in the rotation is a serious concern, however; Zeus Valentine, for all his virtues, is nowhere in the class of the three pitchers above, and Gary Wood sports a career ERA just under 5. There's no one else on their 25-man roster that is capable of starting, and their AAA arms aren't very good. As it is, though, their starters are very durable, enough so that they could easily run a four-man rotation (should one starter go down), and none of their starters are what you would consider fragile. Adding reliever Sherm Washington and LF Vance Phillips should easily offset the loss of 3B John Hardy. The rest of the team is largely intact; while Wainhouse can't be expected to match last year's performance, the Mets still look like the class of the AL. Only a disastrous run of injuries to the rotation could prevent the Mets from taking their 7th consecutive divisional crown.

Prediction: 110 wins, AL East Champs


Boston Red Sox (Season 6: 88-74, Wildcard)

Easily the most improved team in Gleeman World, all because of two names: Don Masato and Bryan Beckett. Masato, still just 31, is widely considered to be one of the best (if not the best) starters in Gleeman World. Combined with incumbents Miguel Torres, Charles Brow, and Brad Jefferson, the rotation goes from a weakness to (dare I say it?) a strength. Beckett, meanwhile, is coming off of a 2nd MVP season. His track record includes a 1.000 career OPS, 6 Gold Gloves as a CF, and 5 All-Star game appearances (amazingly, he didn't make the team in Season 1, despite winning the MVP). He's lost a step to age in CF, but is still one of the best flycatchers around, and his bat should be a massive improvement over Byung-Hyun Yosida's. The absence of Nash McCartin leaves a gaping hole in LF that has yet to be filled; that's currently the team's only major question mark. The team is clearly much better than last year, but winning the division itself still looks like a pipe dream. However, adding Masato and Beckett should make this team a legitimate threat to the rest of the AL in the postseason.

Prediction: 98 wins, Wildcard berth


Philadelphia Phenomenauts (Season 6: 80-82)

The Phenomenauts enjoyed their best season last year, 1 win away from breaking the elusive .500 mark. They've had a good offseason, signing FA Rickey Dixon to play 1B, moving Lee Roundtree to LF and Terry O'Connor to the bench. Phillip Bergman is an adequate replacement for the departed Troy Stern, and Jorel Shaw is still good enough to provide value as a long reliever or #5 starter. The problem, however, is that the rest of the division is just too good; the Mets have historically been the best organization in the world, and the Red Sox just moved all-in. Unless they can post a better record than every other non-division winner in the AL, they won't make the playoffs, and that looks like a tall order for this team.

Prediction: 82-80, at least 6 or 7 games out of the final playoff spot


Pittsburgh Pug Dogs (Season 6: 66-96)

There are always a few teams every season that are clearly not good enough to contend, even on Opening Day. Unfortunately, the Pug Dogs are one of them. The team they'll march out there is largely unchanged from last season. The biggest addition to the team is 23 year old INF Bobby Hurst, one of the prizes of the Bernard Rhodes trade. He'll contribute right away. The other prize, SP Rico Silva, is a safe bet to improve on last year's ghastly 6.16 ERA. That's not enough to change this team's fate, however; they're headed for another season in the cellar. Season 4's 92 win team looks like a distant memory.

Prediction: 65-97, last place in the division