AL East Race Heats Up: Blue Jays, Yankees, Red Sox Battle

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00:00Let's start in the AL East.

00:01Every single week, I love to look at the standings because they change so much.

00:05Hey, the Toronto Blue Jays, four, five, six games up here.

00:07That's no longer the case.

00:08They have a two-game lead over the New York Yankees

00:10and a three-and-a-half-game lead over the Boston Red Sox.

00:13Why? They've lost two in a row.

00:14We're talking about the Blue Jays.

00:15The New York Yankees playing some easy opponents and piling up wins, Tom,

00:20seven in a row.

00:21The Boston Red Sox, losers of two in a row.

00:23Look at the Yankees starting to leapfrog teams

00:26and heading back to a possible AL East championship.

00:30It really has been crazy, and the overall take I would have at this point is

00:34if you say with certainty that you know who's going to win this division,

00:39you're just lying at this point.

00:40That's what it comes down to.

00:41You can have your fandom.

00:42You can want your team to win.

00:44You can want the team that you bet on to win, whatever it might be,

00:47but the way things have changed in just the last week

00:50or the last two weeks have increased.

00:51Like you said, a six-game lead for the Blue Jays at one point,

00:53that has evaporated.

00:54The Red Sox, who were scorching hot and take three out of four games

00:58versus the Yankees, have now lost two in a row.

01:00To the Pirates, the Yankees, like you said, playing the Nats and the White Sox,

01:02they are picking up wins left and right.

01:04It really comes down to the final few weeks of the season,

01:07and I looked at some of the schedules.

01:08The Yankees have a very easy stretch to close out the season

01:11in the second half of September after they finish the series with the Red Sox.

01:16The Red Sox have a tough end to the season because they have to play

01:18against those Blue Jays.

01:20They also have a series versus the Tigers.

01:22So everything's going to be in flux up until those last few days of the year.

01:25There's no way to tell at this point.

01:28If we do look at the standings, right, Blue Jays, Yankees, Red Sox,

01:31but when we do also look at the team that's favored to win that division,

01:35I'm looking at the Toronto Blue Jays right now, Tom, about a minus-150 price.

01:38The New York Yankees, plus-165.

01:39They're the Sox at a seven-to-one price.

01:42A two-game lead is better than a no-game lead, right,

01:44heading into the month of September.

01:45But the Toronto Blue Jays, I always thought we're – and it's not fair to do this.

01:49Like, we're going to talk about the Tigers in just a few moments.

01:52But it's just – is the pedigree there for them to win this division, Tom?

01:55Now it's down to two games.

01:57I don't know.

01:59Like, at a certain – they were scorching hot in July.

02:03And you have to wonder at a certain point, it's like,

02:04was that just like a flash in the pan?

02:06And I don't want to say flash in the pan because it was over an extended period

02:08of games.

02:09Like, they were really hot for 20, 25, 30 games.

02:12You know, do they have the fortitude?

02:14Do they have the stamina?

02:15Whatever you want to call it, to really extend this lead, like you said,

02:18and then kind of push over and know that they're going to struggle at some

02:21points.

02:21Do they have that pedigree?

02:23I'm not sure.

02:24Because at the end of the day, like, do you want a team like the Yankees –

02:27like, you know, you don't want to be looking over your shoulder,

02:29essentially, at a team like the Yankees who do have the playoff pedigree

02:32to get to the postseason where it might be.

02:34I would be more interested in taking a shot on the Red Sox because if things

02:37fall favorably, that 7-1 number could turn into 2-1,

02:40and I'd rather just have the 7-1 ticket when it's all said and done.

02:43And it's only three and a half games back for the Red Sox,

02:45but an interesting race now.

02:46Love to see it.

02:47It's really the three teams here, right?

02:48The Tampa Bay Rays, Baltimore Orioles, dead and buried at this point.

02:50Sox, Yankees, and also the Jays as we look forward to that.

02:53Let's get to the Central Division.

02:55It's not as if, Tom, that the Detroit Tigers are playing great baseball.

02:57They don't need to.

02:58They built up a big league.

02:59They still sit eight and a half games over the Kansas City Royals

03:01and nine and a half games over the Guardians,

03:03but they've only been playing 500 baseball, particularly the last 10 games,

03:06being 5-5.

03:07But the Royals, Guardians, Twins, they're just not good enough to close that gap here.

03:11And again, the Twins are 17 backs.

03:13You're really focused on the Royals and the Guardians.

03:15It's the Tigers Division.

03:16I just don't want to see them, Tom, get into a malaise.

03:18I want them playing their best baseball in the month of September,

03:21not saying, hey, if we just play 500 baseball, we'll win this division.

03:24I'd like to see them turn it up a notch.

03:26Yeah, I think that they have to use this, obviously, with their manager,

03:30A.J. Hinch at the helm.

03:31They have to use this as, I don't want to say a testing period, but it's your point.

03:35They can't just say, okay, we'll make the postseason and we'll be fine.

03:38No, you actually have to turn things to a new level to not really just ensure the lead,

03:43but ensure that you're playing your best baseball, like you said,

03:45at the last few weeks of September into October.

03:47So if it's a five-game lead, a 15-game lead,

03:50which they realistically could have had at this point in the season if they played better baseball,

03:54you still need to be peaking at the right time.

03:56So experiment with the lineup, get things moving on the right track.

03:59The pitching staff has to get in order,

04:01and then they will be playing their best once October 1st rolls around.

04:04It's a shame when you get a closer, like, divisional race,

04:07or maybe Kansas City could have pushed them.

04:08We thought with that slippage for the Detroit Tigers,

04:10but nobody's really good enough to step up.

04:11They really didn't arm themselves at the trade deadline,

04:13and the Tigers are the best team, and I still do like that Tigers team, one through nine.

04:17You got Tarek Skubel at the top of the standings there,

04:19certainly for the AL and the, excuse me, the AL Cy Young Award,

04:22which we'll get to in a few moments, but also Flaherty pitching well.

04:24They're the team, minus $20,000 price, Tom.

04:26Nobody's going to bet against that and take the Guardians 65-1.

04:29We don't think that's going to happen.

04:31Here's a really interesting race.

04:32Does anybody want to win it, Tom?

04:33And I'm talking about the AL West, the Houston Astros, Seattle Mariners,

04:36and look at the Texas Rangers.

04:38Still alive, Tom.

04:39Eight and two in their last ten.

04:40Everybody gets injured, and now they start to win ballgames.

04:42But the focal point is the Astros and the Mariners,

04:44and particularly for me, Astros get some base hits with runners in scoring position

04:50for the love of God, try to help me.

04:52But they're still in the lead by three games.

04:54Like you said, does anyone want to win this division?

04:56Because not only have the Tigers, excuse me, not the Tigers, the Texas Rangers,

05:01Corey Seager had an appendectomy last week, and he's now apparently out for the season.

05:06And now they're playing their best baseball.

05:08DeGrom's on the mound for them today.

05:10They are in a winnable spot.

05:11But when it comes to the Mariners, you think they have all this momentum,

05:14and then they struggle when they, you know, a couple weeks ago when they play the match,

05:17then they have to play the Little League, you know, special World Series game

05:20that they lost at, that they get smoked by the Phillies.

05:23Like, they're all over the place.

05:24They go back home, they win, but they still can't put together wins.

05:27The Astros are seemingly not fully healthy.

05:29They're getting healthier, but now they're not winning when they're getting healthier,

05:33and it's all over the place.

05:34Again, I would say, to say who wins this division,

05:37you're probably lying to yourself if you know who's going to win.

05:39Because it's very plausible that the Yankees, who are hot right now,

05:42who start a series at the Astros on Tuesday,

05:46if they take two or three there, and whoever the Mariners end up playing,

05:48they win that series two to three,

05:50oh, all of a sudden the Mariners have the division lead,

05:52and the Astros are sitting a game behind.

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