2016 AL East Rankings by Position: Relief Pitching

Before we get to the predictions as we head toward the start of the 2016 season, it is time to rank the relief pitching of each team in the AL East, where three teams have dominant bullpens and another is pretty close.

As a reminder, just a few points about these rankings:

• I love being able to discuss these rankings. I don’t claim to know anything about the AL East, but I try to be as impartial as possible. If you disagree, let me have it!
• We are primarily focused on the guys who will be the main parts of the bullpen, but depth in the bullpen is very important and will be considered.

As has become the custom, let’s first look back to the predictions and final rankings for 2015.

Here was how the bullpens ranked at the beginning of the 2015 season: 1- Baltimore, 2 – Boston, 3 – New York, 4 – Toronto, 5 – Tampa Bay.

By the end of the year, the late-inning monster in New York rose to the top: 1 – New York, 2 – Baltimore, 3 – Toronto, 4 – Boston, 5 – Tampa Bay.

I thought the lack of depth in the Yankees’ bullpen would cause overuse among Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances, and while I wasn’t wrong, Justin Wilson, Chasen Shreve and Brandon Pinder all added good depth to the Yanks’ bullpen. I was for the most part right on Baltimore. Toronto got great work out of young stud pitchers Roberto Osuna and Aaron Sanchez in the bullpen, and the Rays’ bullpen was a disaster.

Now, let’s move on to 2016.

Preseason 2016 AL East Rankings

1. New York Yankees – Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller, Dellin Betances, Chasen Shreve, Brandon Pinder, Bryan Mitchell, Ivan Nova, Nick Rumbelow, Kirby Yates, James Pazos, Jacob Lindgren, Nick Goody,

The Yankees watched the Kansas City Royals and their deep back-end of the bullpen win the World Series, and decided to follow suit. They already had Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances, two of the top ten relievers in the game. So, what did they do? They acquired arguably the best closer in the game, Aroldis Chapman, without giving up any major league players.

The Yankees could have a bunch of nobodies in the bullpen with these three and would probably still be first. And, they did trade away Justin Wilson to the Detroit Tigers. But, they still have Brandon Pinder and Chasen Shreve, who as I said earlier, both did very well in 2015 in middle-relief situations. The other players in the bullpen are less than stellar, as Mitchell and Nova will likely be in the bullpen unless there is an injury in the starting rotation. Rumbelow, Yates, Pazos and others all have very limited major league experience, if any at all.

The only potential issue here is the possible suspension of Chapman for a domestic violence incident. The league still has not made a ruling on this, but anything short of a half-year suspension would just make Chapman fresher for the stretch run.

Next: One of the best pens in all of baseball...