The American League East, once again, is the toughest division in baseball. It has three potential 90-win teams: the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox, and the Toronto Blue Jays. This division was one of the more busier divisions this past off-season. The New York Yankees signed former Red Sox centerfielder, Johnny Damon, while the Red Sox made noise through trades, acquiring a World Series MVP, Josh Beckett. But that?s not all though. The Devil Rays acquired Sean Burroughs for Dewon Brazelton and traded Danys Baez and Lance Carter to the Dodgers for prospects Edwin Jackson and Chuck Tiffany. The Toronto Blue Jays traded gold glove winner, Orlando Hudson, to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Troy Glaus and signed B.J. Ryan and A.J. Burnett in Free Agency. The Baltimore Orioles hired Leo Mazzone as their new pitching coach, the legendary ex-pitching coach from the Atlanta Braves. My Predictions 1. Boston Red Sox The Red Sox will put up a tough battle with the Yankees, but this time, come out on top. Even though they lost Damon to the Yankees, the Red Sox offense shouldn?t lose a step. They traded for Coco Crisp, Mark Loretta, Wily Mo Pena, and Mike Lowell. Despite all the rumors, Manny is still in a Red Sox uniform and will continue to mash with fellow Dominican David Ortiz. In the Lowell trade, the Red Sox also received Josh Beckett. Beckett, 25, will join a healthy Curt Schilling, Matt Clement, David Wells, and Tim Wakefield in the starting rotation. A good pitching staff is what the Red Sox have and that?s why they will finish ahead of the Yankees. 2. New York Yankees The Yankees will have more competition than just the Boston Red Sox. The other team, the Toronto Blue Jays. The Yankees made a big splash this past off-season signing former Boston Red Sox star Johnny Damon. Damon was the face of the Red Sox for years but decided to part ways due to millions ($) of reasons. Damon will make the already stacked Yankees lineup even scarier. Not only did the Yankees add offense, they added arms to the bullpen. Kyle Farnsworth will replace Tom Gordon, who left to Philadelphia to be the closer, in the setup role to the legendary Mariano Rivera. If Octavio Dotel can recover from his arm surgery, that will make the Yankees relief even stronger. 3. Toronto Blue Jays Knowing that they needed to make major changes in order to put up a fight in the toughest division in baseball, the Blue Jays went out and did just that. From Free Agency alone, the Jays signed a solid starting pitcher, A.J. Burnett, and a dominant left-handed closer, B.J. Ryan. Burnett and Ryan both struck gold in the market due to a weak free agent class. After they upgraded their pitching, they felt they had to do the same for the offense. The Jays traded Gold Glove winner, Orlando Hudson, to the Arizona Diamondbacks for slugger Troy Glaus. Realizing that the Brewers wanted to make room for prospect Prince Fielder, they went and got Lyle Overbay. Glaus, Molina and Overbay will aid Hillenbrand and Wells in what is now a solid offense. By satisfying both needs in pitching and offense the Jays are now not only a contender for the division, but also a contender for the championship. Unfortunately, they?re in the toughest division in all of baseball and might not even make the playoffs. Pretty sad since they spent a ton of money this past off-season. 4. Baltimore Orioles I have the Orioles finishing 4th in the powerhouse division. One of the only bright spots is the new pitching coach, Leo Mazzone. Leo will finally get the opportunity he deserves. He?ll have a lot of work to do to get this team back to the glory days. He will be able to work with pitchers such as Erik Bedard, Daniel Cabrera, and Rodrigo Lopez. Helping them reach their potential will be the key to the team?s success this year. They will have some new faces with Corey Patterson, Ramon Hernandez and Kevin Millar. Young guys who will get a chance to prove themselves include Chris Ray and Nick Markakis. Markakis, who is fighting for an outfield spot, is one of the key pieces to the future of this Orioles team. Since B.J. Ryan left to Toronto, the Orioles will have to call on 24-year-old Chris Ray for closing duties. Baltimore has no chance of winning this division and will not make the playoffs either. 5. Tampa Bay Devil Rays Same old story, last place. However, the Rays have a bright future. It?s just that now is not their time. There offense is one of the best in the league, they just have no pitching at all. Outside of Scott Kazmir, the D-Rays have nobody. Once Lugo and Huff have been traded, the Rays will get to see what their future holds. B.J. Upton will likely see time at shortstop this year as Delmon Young the outfield. A potential lineup consisting of young studs like Crawford, Young, Upton, and Cantu is just scary for opposing pitchers. Former Angel bench coach, Joe Madden, is the new manager in Tampa. Madden finally gets a chance to show what he can do, and with all those future stars, he?s got to be a happy camper. Even though they will finish in last place, they will be fun to watch. The American League East will likely have two of its teams make the playoffs, the Boston Red Sox as the division champ and the New York Yankees as the Wild Card winner. Up next, the AL Central previews.