Which AL East teams make the '09 postseason?, Handicapping the odds

Taking the pulse on how the Monsters feel heading into the season.

My gut feeling, (Sox, Rays) and it has everything to do with Pitching & Defense.
The Rays didn't do to much and 'that' was a good thing for them. Adding Burrel a plus. Their pitching looks solid, starting and pen. They have some great up and coming stars in Upton and Longoria with a post season under their belt. I think they will lead the East most of the season until August.

The Yankees have question marks everywhere. Starting with their starting rotation. I dont see CC and Burnett giving them what Moose and Pettite gave them last year. Joba will get jerked around again and wind up in the pen probably. Their 'D' is bad news. They got what they 'planned' and needed in Texiera but are old at the top and iffy at the bottom of the lineup.

As for our Sox;.....I like the way we're built going in and I have faith in our FO to get us (the goods we may need) during the season. Health, of course will be a major factor. Depth, we have with our pitching. I beleive we have the bats to get us through. We need to find ways to beat the Rays head to head this season. For me, that is the key!

The Yankees have the most question marks, no doubt, but the Rays lineup and bullpen just aren't as strong as last season made them appear to be. The Rays will be the odd team out, barring a major health induced collapse by either the Sox or the Yankees.

The Rays also stretched their young arms beyond any previously reached innings limit last season, and that's the sort of thing that leads to a slew of shoulder and elbow problems the season after.

not voting yet,but i cannot help but wonder if there is an underestimation of both the yankees and the rays particulary the rays.the only thing i know is that the sox pen is the best of the three and likely by a lot.

That's exactly right... and the Sox lineup is a little better than the Yankee lineup and a lot better than the Rays lineup.

I voted Sox and Rays.
First of all that means the WC comes out of the East. As usual.

As for our division, I give a lot of credence to the argument that the Rays can't possibly repeat what they did last year and their pitchers may suffer setbacks due to the workload ... but did anybody tell the Rays? That team believes in itself and that will carry them a long way.

As for the Sox, both the stats and the gut say they'll win the division or be very, very close and take the wild card.

before i vote im looking for some help here.I think we can assume that this will be a 3 team race almost til the end.if thats the case im not able to see how the wildcard comes out of this division,i find it hard to see 3 team here winning 95 games .S.o.s on the math isues.

I don't think it will go that late. My prediction is that by the all-star break one of the three teams will have tripped over health and injury issues and stumbled.

implied in this is that the rays due to age and general health coming into the season get to remain one of the 2 I think.

My money is still on the Rays to be the team that falls out. Their lineup and bullpen was never as good as last season made them appear to be, and their starters were stretched beyond any previously achieved innings limit.