The American League East Has Done Something That's Only Happened One Other Time Before
As we sit here on August 2, the American League East has done something that's only happened one other time in modern baseball history, proving it's one of the toughest divisions to ever exist.
Per ESPN Stats & Info:
This year's AL East is the second time in the Divisional Era (since 1969) that every team in a division is over .500 entering August. The other was NL East in 2005.
Now, we've played one game in August already, but the point still holds. Each team is over .500.
The Orioles are 66-41, while the Rays are 66-44. The Blue Jays are 59-49, the Red Sox are 57-50 and the Yankees, although in last, are still 55-52. There is a legitimate chance for four American League East teams to make the playoffs.
Major League Baseball changed its schedule for this season, putting less of an emphasis on divisional games, so that allows for things like this to occur. The less time that a division spends cannibalizing itself, the more time it has to accumulate wins on the outside, which is exactly what the division has done.
On Wednesday, the Red Sox will visit the Seattle Mariners (4:10 p.m. ET), the Rays and Yankees will play each other (7:05 p.m. ET), as will the Orioles and Blue Jays (7:07 p.m. ET).
With the Blue Jays (Paul DeJong, Jordan Hicks), Rays (Aaron Civale) and Orioles (Jack Flaherty) all making significant moves at the trade deadline, the division doesn't figure to get any easier down the stretch.
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