Red Sox Had Their Chance to Pull Away with the AL East, Now It's Too Late and the Yankees Are Ready to Take Back the Throne

By Djack

Sorry Red Sox fans, your opportunity to win the AL East has vanished, and within the next week or so the Yankees will regain sole possession of first place. Once that happens, they won't be looking back, so enjoy it while it lasts. The Red Sox came into this season a heavy favorite to not only win the AL East, but compete for a World Series. Now, that seems preposterous that the consensus even thought that with the way the team has performed this season. The lineup without Big Papi just isn't what it was last year, the starting pitching hasn't been what it was supposed to be, and the bullpen besides for Craig Kimbral has been somewhat of a disaster. All these issues have lead to an underwhelming season for the Red Sox. No deadline deal will be enough to fix this Red Sox team and that's why I believe their chances at winning the AL East have slipped right through their fingers.

The Yankees had looked like they were going to run away with the division in early June until everything fell apart at once. Players went down, starting pitchers stopped performing, and the bullpen was in shambles. This allowed the Red Sox to take first place as the Yankees kept losing games at one point reaching rock bottom losing 16 of 20 games. Somehow, someway, through all that the Red Sox failed to take advantage and build a sizeable lead in the division race. I believe the most games the Yankees ever trailed was 4.5, which is incredible when you think of the clip they were losing at. The Red Sox are who they are at this point. They've been consistently this above average team all season and I don't think much will change. David Price is out for God knows how long, so if anything their situation just got worse. Meanwhile, the Yankees bullpen is the best in baseball after the trade they made last week for Kahnle and Robertson, and their lineup has consistently been one of the best in baseball all season.

Both these teams could still make deals before the deadline as they both could use a starting pitcher. The Red Sox could also use a bat, but the Yankees are much better suited to pull off a deal than the Red Sox right now. Yankees are getting hot and are starting to regain early season form where they were the best team in baseball(record wise). If they go on a run like that again they'll pull away with thing and we'll get to see real Yankee postseason baseball for the first time since 2012. I don't see the scenario in which the Red Sox win the division by actually improving as a baseball team. The only way they'll win is if the Yankees fall apart like they did in late June and early July. It's the Yankees division to lose now, I don't care what the standings say right now, by October the Yankees will be sitting comfortably at the top of the AL East.