MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince ranks the Top 10 lineups -- and four of the teams are from the AL East.
The Red Sox are ranked sixth, behind the Dodgers, Blue Jays, White Sox, Atlanta, and Yankees. The Rays are ninth. Except for the Dodgers, there are caveats about all of the teams above Boston, so the Red Sox could perhaps be projected a little higher.
Regardless of where the Red Sox fall in a pre-season ranking of only lineup strength, the AL East is going to be a crazy fight. The division had four teams with 91+ wins last year and with the slightly expanded postseason, it's possible that the Red Sox, Yankees, Blue Jays, and Rays could all make the postseason.
Will Leitch (MLB.com) points out that last season, the Blue Jays
were trying to catch the Sox and Yanks, but this year, because of all three games of the three-game Wild Card Series being at the home stadium, home field means even more than it did in a one-game playoff, making the Sox-Yankees battle that much more important. It ends up making places one through four in that division matter. The difference between finishing first and getting a bye, and finishing third or fourth and having to play three games on the road, just for the opportunity to advance, is vast.
ESPN gave the Red Sox an offseason grade of C+. That might sound bad, but it's the best grade of the division. The others: Rays (C), Blue Jays (C), Yankees (D+), Orioles (D).
Jeff Passan (ESPN) has an in-depth look at the negotiations and signing of Trevor Story. The Red Sox were concerned at one point that the signing might not happen because Story was reluctant to get the COVID-19 vaccine. And he refused to say anything more about it: "It's a very personal matter. Decisions like that are kept between me and my family."
Why is it that people who understand and accept that vaccines have been a component of modern medicine for at least a century and are not a covert way for the populace to be monitored by "them" never describe the act of getting a vaccine or a booster shot as an extremely "personal" matter? Craig Calcaterra says they act like admitting to receiving a vaccine shot is "a diagnosis of, like, some rare STD that can only be acquired by having intercourse with livestock or something".
New York City Mayor Eric Adams caved to pressure from the Yankees and Mets last week and removed the city's COVID-19 vaccine mandate -- but only for athletes and entertainers. Hurray for science!
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