Can you believe that Spring Training is almost here for Major League Baseball? In the blink of an eye, baseball is almost back in our lives, and it’s great to see. In this piece, we take a look at the American League divisions, which includes the news of the Yankees favored to win the AL East for the 2023 MLB season. Will the Red Sox or someone else be able to take down the Bronx Bombers?
Thanks to such a strong offseason, the Yankees should win the AL East title once again this campaign. The Yankees posted historic numbers in 2022, but things ended in disappointing fashion, as they weren’t able to take down the Houston Astros in the ALCS. Now, the Yankees are motivated to bounce back in a big way this season, which includes dominance in the division.
Luckily for the Yankees, slugger Aaron Judge will return with the squad. Despite plenty of rumors and speculation during the offseason, including a potential move to San Francisco, Judge signed a massive contract with the Yankees. Not only that, but NY was able to add Carlos Rodon to the starting rotation. We can’t tell you how massive that is for skipper Aaron Boone.
| AL East odds |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yankees to win | +110 | +110 | +110 |
| Blue Jays to win | +220 | +220 | +220 |
| Rays to win | +300 | +300 | +300 |
| Red Sox to win | +2000 | +2000 | +2000 |
What’s going to be really important for the Yankees this spring, summer and fall will be if their stars can stay healthy. Judge dealt with some injuries last season, but Giancarlo Stanton has also suffered several trips to the Injured Reserve as well. It will be imperative for both of those guys, and the rest of the playmakers, to stay healthy moving forward.
According to the best-rated sportsbooks, which includes the reliable Bovada review, the Yankees hold +110 MLB betting odds to win the AL East, while the Blue Jays are +220, Tampa Bay is +300, Boston is +2000 and Baltimore is +2500. From our chair, we think the Yankees, who also have high World Series betting odds, will cruise to a division title. New York is our pick.
Elsewhere, watch out for the reigning World Series champions. That’s right, the Astros should go on to win the AL West, as they’re poised to also try and repeat during the Fall Classic. Houston will welcome back a ton of superstar talent, which is going to make it difficult for anyone to catch up to them. With the Astros, their main worry is working an extension with Jose Altuve, who deserves a major raise.
Other than that, outside of Justin Verlander, there weren’t any significant losses for this team over the past few months. Houston is hungry to record yet another big year, and they’re not going to let any of their haters try and bring them down. Due to their cheating scandal a few years back, a lot of fans hate them, but the Astros have moved forward from all of that.
One team to watch here would be the Seattle Mariners, though. For the first time since 2001, the Mariners booked a trip to the postseason, ending one of the longest playoff droughts we’ve seen in all of sports. Stars like Luis Castillo, Julio Rodriguez and more are hoping to bring Seattle fans a lot of excitement. Could an AL West pennant be on the way for the Mariners for the first time in more than 20 years?
Houston hopes to prevent that from happening. Per the oddsmakers, the Astros hold -200 odds to win the AL West in 2023, while the Mariners are pretty far behind them at +350. Seattle is a loaded team and we think they’ll grab a Wild Card spot again next fall, but we think the Astros will prove to be too much for anyone to stop. Houston is our pick for the AL West.
Lastly, Cleveland and Chicago are ready to battle it out in the AL Central. When it comes to the Guardians and White Sox, this figures to be a back-and-forth battle from start to finsih this campaign. Both these squads feature plenty of young talent both for their lineups and their starting rotations. This really does feel like it’s going to be a coin flip as to who will end up winning it all.
However, you also can’t forget about the Minnesota Twins here. The major offseason news for the Twins was the standout shortstop Carlos Correa ended up re-signing with the squad. Correa agreed to deals with both the Giants and the Mets, but those contracts fell through due to injury concerns.
However, everything got squared away with the Twins, and he’ll be ready to rock for ’23. Per the oddsmakers, Cleveland has been set with +135 odds, Chicago at +200, and Minnesota is not too far behind at +250. Call it a hunch, but we think the Twins will be able to surprise a lot of people. We’re going with the Twins as our pick.
