The AL East has been one of the most competitive divisions in baseball for years and that is in part to good player development but it also has to do with the teams not being afraid to go out and sign players.  This is particularly apparent in the large markets such as New York, and Boston, and in Toronto in recent years.  As one team signs players the others counter it with moves of their own to improve their team in an effort to win the division.  With that being said you know it has been a busy offseason in the AL East as teams build for next year to chase the ever coveted world series victory.

Baltimore Orioles

The orioles have been extremely quiet this offseason when it comes to signing players.  It’s one thing to not want to overspend on unknown free agent pieces, but the Orioles have not even resigned their own players as many have walked by now and signed with other teams.  The two most notable of these players being Nelson Cruz, Andrew Miller, and Nick Markakis.  Cruz is a huge loss as he lead the majors in homeruns last season and was a huge piece for the Orioles winning the division.  

Aside from losing those three key components the Orioles may also be without Manny Machado, and Matt Wieters for opening day.  If the Orioles hope to make the playoffs again and this time get to the world series they are going to need to make some signings after those key losses.

Boston Red Sox

As is to be expected with a team like the Red Sox they have gone out and made some splashy signings after a miserable season in which they finished last in the division.  The two biggest names to sign are Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez.  With the singing of Sandoval the Red Sox may have finally solved the revolving door at third base.  This position has been a weak one for years with none of their prospects quiet panning out such as Will Middlebrooks.  Hanley, the long time shortstop, then thirdbaseman will actually be moved to the outfield which is what made Yoenis Cespedes expendable, leadingd to their next major move.  

The Red Sox traded for Cespedes last season at the trade deadline only to ship out this offseason to Detroit for Rick Porcello.  Knowing that they probably weren’t going to be able to resign Jon Lester meant the Sox needed another starting pitcher and having just singed two middle of the order bats could afford to trade away a major power bat such as Cespedes. 

To finish off the rotation the Red Sox signed a familiar face in Justin Masterson, to a one year deal.  Masterson struggled mightily with his control last season as he has for much of his career which lead to a very high ERA.  If he can keep the walks to a minimum by Masterson standards, he could have a very good season a power sinker ball pitcher in Fenway.  

New York Yankees

Having just recapped Boston’s offseason it makes sense to analyze their bitter rivals the Yankees next.  While it hasn’t been the Earth shattering offseason many fans had hoped it might be, a year after not making the playoffs the Yankees have made some good moves and opened up room for some of their prospects to make the team and show what they have.

After displaying good power late in the season, the Yankees decided to retain backup outfielder Chris Young as a right handed power bat off the bench.  Not a particularly important move but it did mean an end to the Ichiro Suzuki era in New York.  

Then in a surprising trade the Yankees shipped Shane Greene to Detroit in a three team deal that resulted in Didi Gregorius being sent to the Yankees.  Greene was a huge reason the Yankees were even close to the playoffs after all the injuries to the rotation which made this a bit of a shocking trade.  It did however give the Yankees a respectable option at shortstop after the retirement of Derek Jeter.  While Gregorius still needs to work on his hitting he will greatly improve the defense in the infield which was a weakness last season.  On this same day the Yankees also signed left handed power reliever Andrew Miller.  The Yankees went most of last year without a good left handed arm coming out of the bullpen so this was a huge signing for them. Miller is not a lefty specialist either meaing he is good enough right hander’s that he is likely competing with Dellin Betances for the closers role with the departure of David Robertson.  

The Yankees weren’t done yet though as they also singed Chase Headley to a four year contract giving them one of the better defensive left sides of the infield in baseball.  Then in another surprising trade the Yankees traded away Martin Prado and David Phelps to the Marlins for starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi, Garrett Jones, and two prospects.  The trade of Prado means the Yankees are making an effort to get younger and believe in their farm system as Rob Refsnyeder and Jose Pirela are the two prospects likely to battle in spring training for the starting second base position.

Toronto Blue Jays  

In recent years the Blue Jays have been much busier in the offseason as they try to push their way to the top of what is generally a very competitive division.  The Blue Jays let some guys walk such as Melky Cabrera and longtime Blue Jays Dustin McGowan, and Brandon Morrow but they have made some good signings and trades to improve the roster.  

The Blue Jays kicked things off when they traded away Adam Lind to the Brewers for starting pitcher Marco Estrada.  Estrada was a serviceable pitcher in Milwaukee, but if he is going to succeed in the AL East where there are a lot of hitter friendly ball parks he will need to cut down on the homeruns a season after serving up 29 long balls.

It was after this though where the Brewers really went and made some important moves, beginning with trading for all star third baseman Josh Donaldson.  The Blue Jays traded away Brett Lawrie and some prospects to get him but you get the sense the Jays were fed up with Lawrie never living up to his potential and always landing on the disabled list.  With Donaldson at third base they have finally covered a huge hole in the infield and have one of the most powerful middle of the lineups with Donaldson, Jose Bautista, and Edwin Encarnacion.

The Blue Jays then signed Russell Martin to a five year deal.  Martin is a great defensive catcher and calls a great game behind home plate and is going to be a huge offensive upgrade over the like of Dioner Navarro.  

To finish off their offseason so far the Blue Jays then signed former highly touted prospect Justin Smoak to a deal who will likely just be a power bat off the bench for the Jays as he has not played close to his expectations throughout his career.

Tampa Bay Rays 

Unfortunately for Rays fans it looks the run is going to be over where the Rays are legitimate division contenders.  The Rays had a great run under Joe Maddon but he left to go coach the Cubs.  Maddon was a huge part of the teams success as he was always able to make something out of nothing and that may wind up being a bigger loss than any player from any one team.

In typical Tampa Bay fashion they have not made any moves this offseason other than picking up the option on Ben Zobrist and trading Matt Joyce for Kevin Jepsen.  Without any major trades or signings on the horizon it is going to be a rough season for the Rays a year after finishing second to last in the division.