The hard throwing righty really turned things on in the second half of last season. He helped himself out by shaving off some walks in the second half, as well as adding a substantial amount to his strikeouts.

If he can maintain the batted ball data from a year ago, he will be a real surprise in 2008.

Major Addition: Scott Rolen

Despite fracturing a finger that will keep him out of the Jays lineup for the first month and a bit of the season, Rolen’s presence will greatly improve the infield defense. Although…

Major Subtraction: Troy Glaus

The Jays are going to take a big hit offensively here as Rolen is not the powerful hitter that Glaus is. Taking that kind of power out of the lineup may hurt the Jays as they will have to rely on a lot of singles and doubles to score runs.

3. New York Yankees

I am ranking the Yanks as my third best team in the American League East with not much of a chance at making the playoffs. Their rotation is in shambles, as it is yet another year older at the top. Their hitting is as good as the Tigers, but substantially older and thus likely to collapse.

Unfortunately, I am expecting a major regression for the Yankees.

As I mentioned, the rotation is in shambles. While I am a huge fan of Phil Hughes, I honestly don’t see him as being much more then a third starter this year.

With that in mind, I also see him as far and away the best starter the Yankees have this year. For Yankee fans who thought last year was tough going to their 12th, 13th, and 14th starters, 2008 will prove to be just as painful.

Neither Mussina nor Pettitte have what it takes to be a top of the rotation starter for 30+ starts. If the Yankees expect to compete, they are going to have to tap back into their farm system. I’m also not a fan of Wang, unless his new pitches are all that.

The bullpen will be strong with Chamberlain and Rivera, and Edwar Ramirez is a guy I really like, despite the fact that he is surprisingly old! But how much more can the Yankees expect LaTroy Hawkins or Kyle Farnsworth

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