The Birds are back, baby!

The Baltimore Orioles made a number of moves to support All-Star catcher, Adley Rutschman as he returns from a half season that saw him hit just .220. The biggest add, of course, is Pete Alonso to provide a home run threat and drive in runs. Rutschman gets the press. Gunnar Henderson and Jackson Holliday are the two who got the job done for Baltimore last year. They combined for 34 home runs and 123 runs batted in. Alonso will equal those numbers all by himself. If Jordan Westburg (17 HR in 85 games) and Colton Cowser (Moooooooooo! 16 HR in 92 games) missed half the year. If both can play a full year and produce, this team has a shot.

On the mound, the O’s are hoping for a lot of things. If they happen, they could win the East. They are hoping Zach Eflin returns to the form he showed the year before undergoing surgery for his back. They are hoping to rely on Trevor Rogers to continue his success from 2025 (1.81 ERA in 18 starts). The hoping list continues. Kyle Bradish was great in six starts (47 strikeouts). Can he kep that up? Baltimore needs Chris Bassitt to give them another 30 starts and be the rock of the staff. The team signed Shane Baz away from the Tampa Bay Rays. Baz went two years between big league starts after an injury. Last year, he went 10-12 with a 4.87 earned-run average. Those are fifth starter numbers. 90 wins and a playoff berth are very real possibilities.

Toronto invested heavily after barely losing out on a World Series title in ’25, the team almost immediately lost third baseman, Bo Bichette. Bichette took $126 million to go to the New York Mets. The Blue Jays responded by… investing in pitching. The Blue Jays signed Tyler Rogers, Dylan Ponce, and Myles Straw. Oh, yeah, they also got a guy named Max Scherzer. The team is also asking Jesus Sanchez, Nathan Lukes to give manager John Schneider flexibility and a little power.

The big signing is Kazuma Okamoto. His power should translate to the Majors from the Japanese League (168 HRs in the five years before an injured elbow forced him off the field last May). If it doesn’t, the Blue Jays are going to have to rely on that pitching. It should be enough to win 93 games and the East.

In Boston, the big three on the mound last year matched up against anybody: Garrett Crochet, Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito. Giolito is still unsigned. If he signs, great. If not, Sonny Gray and Ranger Suarez will try to take his spot. Johan Oviedo is planning to show he has completely recovered from injury and is capable of improving on his 4.31 ERA from a year ago.

Alex Bregman is now a hired gun. Houston, then Boston, now the Chicago Cubs. Caleb Durbin (The first rule of Fight Club is…catch the ball and drive in runs. Okay, that’s two rules). He was third in Rookie-of-the-Year voting last year. He hopes to improve on a .256, 11 HR, 53 RBI campaign. It’s not a bad start to a career.

Keeping Trevor Story healthy is paramount. Last year was the first in five years that he had played anything close to a full season (157) games). His offense is what most casual fans see. I saw him play once in a Spring Training game. It was the most impressive defensive performance I’ve ever seen. Roman Anthony averaged a hit per game during the U.S.’ World Baseball Classic and hit .292 in his 58 games as a rookie. Jarren Duran can’t be truly effective as a leadoff batter if he strikes out 168 times a season. Willson Contreras provides consistency and a professional at-bat. Carlos Narváez hit .241 last year with 15 HRs last year. Connor Wong, though, is being talked about by manager Alex Cora as the best man to handle the staff. Wong hit .190. He needs to take his knowledge of the catching position and take it to his at-bats.

Giolito and Gray are more important than maybe anyone realizes. With one, Boston wins 90. With both, they win the East.

In New York, Yankee ace Gerrit Cole is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. That could go any number of ways. Cam Schlittler looked like Cole 2.0 in the playoffs. Max Fried finished fourth in the Cy Young voting and has six straight seasons of ERAs under 3.25. Carlos Rodón had a solid 2025 ( 3.09 ERA in 33 starts). Things get a little wobbly after that. Luis Gill is not on the starting staff after a lat strain.

Aaron Judge has to stay healthy. No one is expecting Giancarlo Stanton to do so. Why would you? Cody Bellinger took $162 million to stay, which seems like a lot. Paul Goldschmidt is back, off of a 10-HR year. New York hopes he can provide at least twice that many, even though his power has been diminishing over the last few years.

Yes, Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit 31 home runs last year. But, the batting average dipped to .242. His attitude stinks. It doesn’t seem like he is willing to learn from his mistakes. He reminds me of Yasiel Puig. If the Yankees veterans, like Goldschmidt and Aaron Judge can fix that, the team’s chances of winning go up pretty dramatically.

THe pitching and occasional offense will carry them to at least 85 wins. It’s hard to see too many more than that.

In Tampa Bay, new ownership is looking for a turnaround from two-straight 4th place finishes.

Three guys will put runs on the board: Junior Caminero, Jonathan Aranda and Yandy Diaz. Add Chandler Simpson (.295 ave.) and you have a pretty good top four. But, the Rays need more than that to complete their comeback. Carson Williams struggled in his rookie campaign (.172 ave.), but has looked great in Spring Training. Cedric Mullins looks like a shell of his former self. With Jonny DeLuca and Ryan Vilade bringing up the bottom of the lineup, the Rays will need all of the pitching they can get.

And, they might get quite a bit. Drew Rasmussen (2.76 ERA) is the ace. Steven Matz was really good (3.02 ERA) last year, but in a relief roll. He’s on the depth chart as their third starter. Joe Boyle and Nick Martinez are solid fourth/fifth starters. The fate of the team could very well rest on the left-hander, Shane McClanahan. He is coming back from Tommy John surgery and then a subsequent nerve injury. If he can return to form (3.02 career ERA, 1.10 WHIP).

The Rays are never in a rush, but, John Morgan “Tre’”, Jacob Melton, and pitcher Brady Hopkins might see playing time sooner rather later. If Tampa can even get two of their bottom five to hit, they have a chance to win 90. Most likely, they come in at 78.