When you think of classic baseball rivalries, you think of your Red Sox vs Yankees and Dodgers vs Giants matchups. Rivalries are fun because it can add an extra layer of excitement to the games and it can be even more satisfying when your team comes out on top. Unfortunately, rivalries aren’t that exciting when one team is just so much better than their rival and the games aren’t particularly close. In 2020, the Yankees won eight out of the ten games against the Red Sox and outscored them 66 to 38. The Red Sox/Yankees didn’t feel as impactful as previous years due to the fact that the Sox weren’t a competitive team, and 2021 doesn’t look like it will be any different. The Yankees’ real rivalry in 2020 was with the Tampa Bay Rays, who finished ahead of the Yankees by seven games.
Both the Yankees and the Rays are teams that the Blue Jays will have to chase down and surpass if they want to make the postseason. The Jays finished the 2020 season eight games behind the Rays and just one game behind the Yankees. Going into the 2021 season, the Yankees are the perennial favourites to win the division and are probably the favourite to win the American League pennant. Of course, these projections are just that, projections. The season still has to be played and anything can happen. Last year, the Yankees were the favourites to win the division and go to the World Series, and we all know that they lost to the Rays for both of those accolades. While both the Yankees and Rays are going to be tough teams to beat this year, neither one comes without their flaws, which should give the Jays a fighting chance to compete for the division.
Let’s start with the defending American League champions, the Tampa Bay Rays. Needless to say, the Rays had a great 2020 season as they took the Dodgers to Game 6 of the World Series and could’ve gone to a Game 7, if it wasn’t for a controversial pitching change. Regardless, the cast of characters that made up the team that went to the World Series is not the same roster that will be heading into the 2021 season. The two biggest subtractions from their roster were Charlie Morton who signed with the Atlanta Braves via free agency, and Blake Snell who was traded to the San Diego Padres. Both Morton and Snell were major contributors to the team’s success, and those will be two large holes to fill in their starting rotation.
They did sign free agents Rich Hill and Chris Archer to try to fill those voids left by Morton and Snell, but it will remain to be seen if they are able to post similar numbers. Rich Hill had a respectable 2020 season with Twins, posting a 3.03 ERA with a 1.164 WHIP. He is now entering his age 41 season, so it will be interesting to see what the 16-year veteran has left. Chris Archer, who started his career with the Rays, but was traded to Pittsburgh in 2018, did not pitch last season. He missed the entire season as he was recovering from a neck surgery. However, The Rays are hoping that Archer can recapture the success that he had during his first tenure with the team. Even with the losses of Morton and Snell, the Rays will still be a very competitive team and will find a way to win because that is what they do. They always seem to plug in any player and make it work, especially when it comes to their pitching staff.
Now onto the Evil Empire, the big bad Yankees. They have a star-studded lineup, a good bullpen, and the makings of an elite starting rotation. The only caveat is health. The Yankees’ biggest problem over the last couple of years was the inability to keep all of their star players on the field. Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton – two of their most impactful offensive players – have not been able to remain on the field for a significant portion of the season. Judge played in only 28 games in 2020 and 102 in 2019. Stanton played in only 23 games in 2020 and only 18 in 2019. If both guys can stay healthy for a good majority of the season, they can put up MVP caliber numbers. However, the last couple of seasons has shown that to be a difficult task. Their rotation isn’t without questions either. They did bolster their rotation by adding former Cy Young award winner Corey Kluber and a former second overall pick in the 2010 draft in Jameson Taillon. The concern with these additions is that they only pitched a combined 74 innings in the past two seasons. In 2020, Corey Kluber only pitched one inning for the Texas Rangers before being placed on the 60-day injured list with a right teres muscle tear. Taillon on the other hand did not pitch at all in the 2020 season as he was recovering from Tommy John surgery. Neither man has pitched more than 40 innings since the 2018 season, and it is unknown as to what they will be able to do in 2021. Everyone knows how dominant Kluber can be when healthy, and Taillon is only 29 years old and is still believed to be an All-Star level pitcher. The only question for either man will be, are they going to be healthy enough to make 25 to 30 starts?
The path to the AL East title goes through the Rays and Yankees, and an argument can be made that the American League pennant goes through them as well. Both teams are formidable opponents and are going to be very difficult to beat. However, neither one is perfect and both have causes for concern. The Jays obviously aren’t without their own issues, but when you take a step back and really look at everything, they may not be so far behind the Rays and Yankees. The Jays are going to need a lot to go right for them (and maybe a lot to go wrong for their rivals), but it is not out of the realm of possibility for them to hang tough for the top spot in the East for most of the year. This year could be the start of new and exciting baseball rivalries in the East. Whether it is between the Jays and Rays or, more likely, the Jays and Yankees, one thing is for sure: baseball is more exciting when there are a little more “fireworks” between teams.
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