Top prospects in American League east -- Part 2
It has always been a tough competition among the players to make a place in any of the American League clubs, especially when talking about the teams which are in dire need of star players. New York Yankees does not have any problem of money or prospects.
The Boston Red Sox are also out of such a situation, but Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Rays, and Toronto Blue Jays do not want to take any risk this coming year. Yankees were the runner up in American League Division series and despite facing their worst
ever September-disaster, the Boston Red Sox club is still strong.
Tampa Bay Rays overthrew the Boston Red Sox in the last day of the regular season and made it through to the post-season, but the club still has to reconsider many things. With the days to the new season rapidly getting closer, the Tampa Bay Rays have started
re-organising their 40-man roster. New prospects are being evaluated, but the quality of left-handed pitcher Matt Moore cannot be ignored, especially keeping in mind his unmatched performance in the Game 1 of the ALDS against the Texas Rangers.
Moore tossed seven innings and did not allow any run on two hits to be the hero of the Rays first win over the Texas in 2011 ALDS. He still has a strong competition in the starting rotation, which is equipped with Jeremy Hellickson, Jeff Niemann, David Price,
James Shields and Wade Davis. To be the part of the starting five rotations, the left-handed pitcher will have to cross one of these throwers in Spring Training. However, Moore need not worry as Shields and Davis are reportedly looking to move forward.
There is no one like Jose Bautista in the Toronto Blue Jays, but he is only limited to the batting camp and it cannot be a guarantee of winning. To be able to compete with some of the toughest hitters in Major League Baseball, the Blue Jays have to acquire
some promising pitchers. Henderson Alvarez was not the Blue Jays’ front office first choice before the start of the 2011 season, but now it has become a top prospect for the upcoming season.
After putting an 8-4 record with a 2.68 ERA in 14 starts at double-A level, Henderson was called up to the big league in August and to the expectations of the manager, he almost destroyed the opposing batters in each of his 10 starts. Although he remained
1-3 with a 3.53 ERA, but he struck-out 40 batters over 63.2 innings to prove his quality.
The most miserable club in the American League east was the Baltimore Orioles. The club not only received the highest defeats in AL, but also received some unbelievable loses. Their performance was never consistent throughout the season. It opened space
for the player, who does not even have experience at double-A level.
It has not been so often in the sports, that a player plunges directly from advanced single-A to big league level. Baltimore Orioles’ Kyle Hudson is a latest example of it. The 24-year-old Hudson was called into the system in September. He entered in 14
games and regardless of his below average performance he did not lose an opportunity to be permanent part of the rotation in the 2012 regular season.
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