Texiera, ARod are playing over their heads and are bound to cool off soon...but they have 30HR all over the back of their baseball card, so whose to say they can't have big seasons.
Sabathia being not the same pitcher is ultimately the missing link and I don't see Tanaka coming back and making another 20 starts the rest of the season. The AL East will come down to whatever team makes the moves soon, to try and get an advantage. The difference between getting a starter is magnified this year because the division is so bunched up and looks to stay that way.
Ellsbury likely out until the All-Star break doesn't help matters either. The Astros and Twins are playing out of their minds right now, so time will tell if they get through June in good shape, will they take an aggressive stance to try and go for the playoffs. KC did it two years ago and came up short and many thought they made a huge mistake trading some prospects to try and stay in the race....the next year they make the playoffs and one game away from a World Series last year.
It's a sport that holds some attention until mid to late August once the football preseason starts and college football kicks in...but this start to the season makes it much more enjoyable than the same teams winning and at least gives some hope to some pretty much forgotten teams. Maybe the revenue sharing and leveling off and more emphasis on draft picks is starting to slow down the bigger market teams from having too much of an advantage.
Cole Hamels to Boston, Baltimore or New York is what may settle the division....all 3 need an upgrade at starter....yeah, the price is sky-high, so I'd probably look elsewhere if I'm these teams, but he's the most capable of making a 4 or 5 game difference in the standings, which could be winning the division or finishing 4th.
