Consider this my official return to the website. Since August, when three-quarters of my NFL previews were published, I took some time off to learn a little bit about the journalism field as I began work on the Torch, the official student newspaper of St. John's University. I began covering soccer in the fall, and have since moved on as one of the paper's Men's Basketball beat reporters.

But enough of that. Baseball season is right around the corner, and I'm here to preview the Eastern divisions of both the American and National leagues.

American League East

1. Tampa Bay Rays

The defending American league champions deserve this preseason ranking. With a core of young position talent as well as a potentially lethal starting staff (also among the youngest in the majors), Tampa Bay will be very good for years to come.

Their primary concern will be the bullpen, where a few new faces will present themselves, and moving David Price to the rotation is a potential toss-up considering he climbed the minor league ladder last season, but Tampa Bay is simply too talented to finish anywhere below second place.

2. New York Yankees

The Bombers spent a boatload of money this offseason to acquire C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and then the bombshell in Mark Teixeira.

Although the recent Alex Rodriguez steroid leaks will haunt them in spring training and will spill over into the regular season, and the Yankees will be missing the leadership of Derek Jeter and Rodriguez throughout the World Baseball Classic, they could flip-flop with Tampa depending on how their bullpen works itself out. The health of Burnett is also a cause for concern, seeing as he has spent much of his baseball career rehabbing injury after injury.

3. Boston Red Sox

With a number of low-risk, high-reward contracts to the likes of Brad Penny, John Smoltz, and Rocco Baldelli, Boston adds even more depth to their pitching staff and another potentially lethal bat to their outfield. Their health and age are concerns, which kept them in second place most of last season and prevented them from advancing to the World Series for the second straight year.

If the likes of Mike Lowell, David Ortiz, Jason Varitek, and Josh Beckett can remain on the field instead of in the trainer's room, Jed Lowrie won't have to move to third base and the Sox won't have a defensive liability in Julio Lugo at short. With health, they can dominate both on the field and at the plate.

4. Toronto Blue Jays

Yes, the Jays lost Burnett (to the Yankees, no less). Yes, this team is very old and will have to scrap together wins to remain above water. But despite his (slight) drop-off last season, Alex Rios is a star and will be a prominent fixture in that lineup for years to come.

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