2014 has been an incredibly turbulent year for teams in the AL East.
The standings look drastically different than they did a year ago, with the 2013 World Series champion Boston Red Sox dwelling in the division’s basement and the Baltimore Orioles poised to win the AL East crown for the first time since 1997.
Star players like Jon Lester, David Price, Robinson Cano and the immortal Mariano Rivera are gone, while new talents like Masahiro Tanaka, Yoenis Cespedes, Brian McCann, Nelson Cruz and Drew Smyly now call the division home. And an influx of young players like Dellin Betances, Xander Bogaerts, Mookie Betts, Marcus Stroman, Kevin Gausman, Jake Odorizzi and others should make the AL East entertaining for years to come.
Yet as much change as the past 12 months have brought for this division, the next 12 figure to bring even more upheaval. The Red Sox and Rays are both in the midst of rebuilding their teams. The Yankees have a lot of money coming off the books this offseason and a lot of holes to fill. And the Jays and Orioles face some tough decisions when it comes to retaining upcoming free agents of their own.
It is against this backdrop that teams will have access to an intriguing mix of free agents this offseason. With three free-agent aces in Jon Lester, Max Scherzer and James Shields on the market, plus a talented crop of hitters including Hanley Ramirez, J.J. Hardy, Melky Cabrera, Nelson Cruz, Michael Cuddyer and Pablo Sandoval, there could be plenty of personnel changes ahead.
In short, while the divisions is pretty much locked up for 2014, it may very well be a wide-open race in 2015 depending on each organization’s offseason moves. With that in mind, let’s take a look at what could change for each team between now and April 1, 2015, and how such changes will impact the AL East landscape.