MLB Playoff Predictions: Why the Boston Red Sox Will Win the AL East

Is there a doubt in anyone’s mind which team will win the AL East this year?

Honestly, choosing the Red Sox to win the AL East is like predicting the weather in Los Angeles. In recent years it has been difficult to choose the favored to win the AL East because the teams were evenly matched, but this year that isn’t the case.

The Red Sox will win the East and also have the best record in the American League at the end of the season.

The only competition that the Red Sox have in the East is the New York Yankees. Head to head the Red Sox are 10-2 against the Yankees, so it’s not hard to predict which team will win in a series.

Although the Red Sox are only 1.5 games ahead of the Yankees for first place, it doesn’t seem that way.

In almost every single category—even though some may be slight leads—the Red Sox have the advantage over the Yankees.

For example, the Red Sox have better hitters in almost every position. First base, Adrian Gonzalez beats Mark Teixeria. Second base, Robinson Cano and Dustin Pedroia are tied, but a slight edge is given to Cano because of his power threat. Shortstop, Derek Jeter is better than Marco Scutaro. Third Base Kevin Youkilis is a better all-around player than Alex Rodriguez. Rodriguez is too injury prone and Youkilis is having a better year.

At the outfield positions, the Red Sox win again. At right field, Josh Reddick and Nick Swisher are tied. Left field Carl Crawford easily beats Brett Gardner and center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury is a better player than Curtis Granderson.

The Red Sox hitting statistics are ridiculous this season. They are first in average, on-base percentage, slugging, runs batted in, doubles, hits, runs and second in home runs. They are unstoppable.

They say pitching wins championships and that is what the Yankees and the Red Sox need to improve. The Yankees didn’t make any deals to get a pitcher this trade deadline, but the Red Sox did.

Adding starting pitcher Erik Bedard will really help the Red Sox this year. Boston's starting five are not too bad and if Clay Buccholz can return from his injury, they can have the best starting three pitchers in the league with Jon Lester, Josh Beckett and Buccholz.

Boston’s bullpen has been somewhat of a disappointment this season, but the Yankees bullpen has been no better. The good thing is that the Red Sox haven’t had to rely on their bullpen because of the huge offensive numbers the team has put up. When the game gets down to the wire, a steady relief pitcher—something the Red Sox lack—is needed for the win. The two offseason acquisitions the Red Sox signed, Dan Wheeler and Bobby Jenks have been huge disappointments. If they can improve and return to their normal form, it will be hard to beat the Red Sox.

The two bullpen relievers the Yankees were counting on this season were Joba Chamberlain and Rafael Soriano. Chamberlain’s out for the year and Soriano hasn’t been up to snuff. The good news is setup man, David Robertson, is having a career year.

Usually, the Yankees always make a trade before the deadline, but this year they decided to trust the current players on their roster. Not making a deal will hurt them. They desperately needed a starter.

The Red Sox got what they needed at the trade deadline—a starting pitcher and shortstop help. Mike Aviles and Erik Bedard will prove to be great additions to the team.

With two months remaining, there is still a lot of baseball left to play.

That is, two months more for the Red Sox to increase their lead in the AL East.