Things have certainly changed in the American League East. Whether it was for the better is certainly a debatable topic depending mostly on whether or not you’re a fan of the New York Yankees. But even as the Yankees get themselves out of the grocery list of injuries and recoveries, the one thing that has been established for sure is that the AL East is going to be a dog fight, but only one team can be crowned the champ.

5. New York Yankees

Pretty much the only people holding onto any speckle of faith that Yankees will do well this season are the ones who have no understanding that there are 29 other teams in Major League Baseball. While it’s obvious that the Yankees have won 27 World Series rings, giving an excuse or argument to the tune of “it’s the Yankees” just doesn’t cut it anymore. The Yankees were pretty lousy in the 1980s and early half of the 1990s in case you forgot. While Robinson Cano, Ichiro Suzuki  and  Brett Gardner can certainly hold their own for a few weeks until Derek Jeter Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson and  Alex Rodriguez  get back, it’s all the new (old in age) players that have question marks above their heads. To be honest, with the exception of  CC Sabathia the all-around pitching isn’t that impressive either.  Mariano Rivera  might be able to go in and close a few games, but even he’s a risk after tearing his ACL last season. Even though this is his final season, who knows if he'll last?

4. Baltimore Orioles

Last season the Baltimore Orioles surprised everyone by not only getting a wild card spot, but also winning the first ever one-game wild card showdown against the Texas Rangers in Arlington. While luck and a lot of late wins helped them out last season, it doesn’t seem very likely that lightning will strike twice in Charm City. For starters the starting rotation isn’t much to sniff at. Wei-Yin Chen  led the team in wins with 12, but had an earned run average of 4.02. Chris Tillman  pitched remarkably well last season, but has been so-so in spring training. A lot of it is going to ride on Jason Hammel  and  Jake Arrieta. The bullpen is solid, but it’s doubtful that  Jim Johnson will come close to matching the 51 saves from 2012.  Adam Jones, Nick Markakis, Matt Wieters and J.J. Hardy will all put up solid numbers on both sides of the plate; however, whether or not Chris Davis  repeats his stellar year is a bit of a mystery.

3. Tampa Bay Rays

It’s such an iffy place for the Rays to be in. Had everything from last season carried over into 2013, the Rays would find themselves sitting on top of the division. Unfortunately for the Rays, the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays have made things difficult. 2012 American League Cy Young award winner  David Price will surely win 19-21 games and have an ERA around 2.80; however, the loss of  James Shields will be a huge impact as the rest of the staff is made up of young faces, who all finished with ERAs around 3.80. As for the bats, a lot of it will depend on whether or not  Evan Longoria can get back to his 2009-2010 form of roughly .285/27/107 and the rest of the team can hit above a .250 average.

2. Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox cleaned house after last season’s meltdown, and their first order of business was to bring in someone who they could count on to lead the team back to their winning ways, John Farrell. Farrell was a coach in Boston from 2007-2010; he won a World Series with them and helped re-establish a solid pitching core. Most of the guys who have done well pitching in Boston will more than likely get back to form with Farrell around. Key additions of Jonny Gomes, Shane Victorino and Mike Napoli will surely bring power and runs to the plate until  David Ortiz  is back to 100 percent.

1.Toronto Blue Jays

It’s hard to argue that Toronto won’t be dominant this season, especially after completely overhauling their starting pitching rotation, infield and outfield. Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson  and  R.A. Dickey could all win at least 15 games and with the way Johnson has been pitching in spring training he could be a top-three favorite for the Cy Young. Jose Reyes hasn’t had a problem hitting anywhere in his career and Melky Cabrera will be an added boost of power to compliment Edwin Encarnacion  and  Jose Bautista.  Moral of the story; take the Jays to win.