So this is the rose-colored glasses view of the AL East. FWIW though, in 2016, the Sox got swept by Cleveland. In 2017, the Sox declined from their 2016 performances - every single batter did - and the Yanks are 3 outs from beating the Indians in a five game series.Which of the Yankees players do you anticipate improving their performance next year?
- Judge is young, but will he be better than he was this year?
- What about all the 33 yr. old guys (Ellsbury, Gardner, Headley, T.Frazier)?...not likely better, and they will struggle to sustain their current level.
- Hicks seems to have figured out strike zone judgment in a big way, but he was about .150+ above his career OPS....probably a genuine improvement, but maybe a little out over his skis, too.
- Gregorious, Castro and Sanchez all had great yrs and are at ages where they can improve (Sanchez especially, which is scary) or at least sustain the level, but I don't see anybody else like that.
-The bullpen is outstanding; and they may get improvement out of Montgomery as a starter, but who else will be better?
The Yankees will be competitive, which is too bad since we'd all prefer them to be an early 90s style AL East doormat, but I do not see them putting together another 100 win Pythag team with their current personnel. The Red Sox are much more likely to get bounce back years from a team full of 20 somethings and ultimately a 100 win level team, than the Yankees.
So, honest question: how far would the Sox need to progress, to not only match 2016 but improve enough to beat Cleveland? And/or how far would the MFYs need to regress, to go from a team that beat the Indians to a team that got swept by them?
FWIW - I root for the Sox too, and I get that you'd prefer to believe that the MFYs will regress and the Sox will bounce back. I hope it's so, but these player-by-player analyses aren't anything more than wishcasting.