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American League East By Gordon Edes, Globe Staff, 03/29/02
Manager: Joe Torre (seventh season) 2001 finish: 95-65, first  Schedule | Team directory
Manager: Grady Little (first season) 2001 finish: 82-79, second Schedule | Team directory
Manager: Buck Martinez (second season) 2001 finish: 80-82, third Schedule | Team directory
Manager: Mike Hargrove (third season) 2001 finish: 63-98, fourth Schedule | Team directory
Manager: Hal McRae (first full season) 2001 finish: 62-1002, fifth Schedule | Team directory
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On paper, Yankees are headed for their fifth straight Series, with addition of MVP candidate Giambi in the middle of their lineup, Wells and Hitchcock to their rotation, Steve Karsay to their bullpen, and John Vander Wal to their bench. Soriano, brilliant as a rookie last season, may have a Jeter-type ceiling, while Spencer finally gets a chance to play every day and highly touted Johnson slides into DH role. But the departed pinstripers - Paul O'Neill, Scott Brosius, Tino Martinez, Chuck Knoblauch - were all proven winners. The new guys must earn their rings.
For all the positive spin that came out of Camp Bliss this spring, Red Sox hopes still rest on the frayed shoulder of Martinez, who is making no promises that he will stay healthy all summer. And what had been an unusually injury-free spring for the rest of the club took a turn for the worse in the last week, when Burkett went down with a shoulder injury, one he downplayed but because of his age (38 in November) raises red flags. New owners, new front office, new manager, new dual leadoff men (Damon and Henderson), new 1B (Clark), new attitude (Ramirez), but still faced with climbing the same old mountain of getting past the Yankees.
New GM J.P. Ricciardi, an integral part of the A's success in Oakland, has already moved quickly to put his stamp on the team, trading SS Alex Gonzalez, closer Billy Koch, and setup man Paul Quantrill and entrusting left side of infield to kids Hinske and Lopez, with catching prospect Josh Phelps in the pipeline. Carpenter is only holdover from rotation bolstered by addition of Aussie Prokopec. Martinez is in tough spot, trying to win with a rebuilding team while needing to impress new boss.
Cal Ripken's last season in an Orioles uniform dovetailed with the franchise's worst performance in 13 years, and without Iron Cal, there are simply too many deficiencies for the team to avoid its fifth straight losing record. Club claims to be in rebuilding mode and has some promising young arms in Towers, Ponson, and Johnson, as well as a top catching prospect in Geronimo Gil, acquired from LA, but key components Conine, Bordick, and Segui are all at least 35. Erickson is back after missing 2001 because of elbow surgery.
The Devil Rays have been a model of consistency only in their record, finishing last in the division in each of their first four seasons. Only Vaughn remains from their ill-conceived attempt to win with veteran big boppers like Jose Canseco and Fred McGriff; McRae will be trying to win with kids, which he did at the end of last season, going 24-23 over their final 47 games. Top OF prospect Josh Hamilton continues to be plagued by back problems, but rookie Hall hit safely in 39 of 46 games after his call-up and rookies Abernathy and 3B Jared Sandberg upgrade the infield. Grieve remains an enigma.