FanPost

Is this the year that marks the end of AL East dominance?


The Yankees are struggling. But because the rest of the AL East is struggling too our position does not look too bad. But there is a question to be faced. Is the Eastern Division's dominance of the AL coming to an end? These thoughts triggered by the slump and Posada's craziness.

I think it is. Even if this is not the year, THE END IS NEAR!

There have been great small market teams over the years. We saw periods of great baseball in Pittsburgh, Cinci, KC, St. Louis, Baltimore and Oakland. I am sure I've missed teams which deserve to be mentioned. But these great teams slid and fell into dark days. It is hard to win from these places (harder since free agency). Someday Tampa will fall too. Amoung the big teams there seems to be a cycle of being good and having to rebuild. The Yanks have sometimes managed to be good and rebuild at the same time, but not always.

I think the Yanks and Boston are trying to stay good and rebuild at the same time, but. The Yanks are pretty old and the Red Sox (particularly their pitching) are pretty thin.

This could well be a year where the second finisher in the AL East is not a cinch to be the Wild Card team. By next year the Wild Card could be devalued enough it will not be the prise it has been.

If Cleveland is for real, they or the Tigers can be a real challenge for the WC. Chicago or the Twins could wake up. There seem to be several reasonably good teams in the west too.

I am not paniced by the slump. I think the Yanks are still the best team in the AL. But a period of greater parity does seem to be coming. The Yankees will not replace the core four. As their time at the top ends, it is worth saying that there has never been another group quite like them. There will probably never be another group together so long and so sucessful for so long.

It will be fun to see how Cano, Granderson and Tex can do in the coming years. Who will anchor the pitching over a period of years? I think we'll get more insight into how great Joe Torre was. He would have handled this Posada thing better, wouldn't he?

Change is upon us. Go Yanks.

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