The times they are a-changing (AL East style)

There was a time, in the not too distant past, that it seemed that the AL East was forever going to be a Red Sox-Yankees battle with the odd anomaly thrown in here and there (Tampa Bay’s 2008 AL Championship being a prime example).

That, however, could well be a thing of the past thanks to some mammoth moves this season by the Toronto Blue Jays that leaves their roster looking pennant worthy.

They aren’t the only team in the division that has undergone serious renovation this off-season, either.

Boston realised the folly of their ways and parted with Bobby V after just one tumultuous, horrendous season that saw them finish bottom of the division and off-load Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez and Josh Beckett, saving them roughly a squillion dollars.

The Yankees, however, have had a very un-Yankee like off-season, for the second year in a row. No big name, big contract signings. The opposite, in fact. Nick Swisher departed for Cleveland, despite hitting 105 homers in four seasons with the club and remaining injury free. Your big brother’s Yankees would have signed him to a gargantuan contract, just because they could. Not now, though.

At the time of writing, with very few game changing free agents still available, Kevin Youkilis remains the only note-worthy Yankee signing this winter.

The Blue Jays, on the other hand, have completely revamped their roster and their pay roll with two monumental trades.

In comes Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey along with Emilio Bonifacio, Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson and Jose Reyes. Add to that the free agent signings of Melky Cabrera and the serviceable Maicer Izturis and there isn’t even a debate as to which team strengthened their roster the most during the off-season.

The Blue Jays aren’t just a better team. They are a better team in every single aspect of the game. Now, I know baseball isn’t played on paper, but when you have a line-up that features Reyes, Cabrera, Bautista and Encarnacion, along with a pitching corps that includes Johnson, Dickey, Buehrle and Morrow (not to mention a deep bullpen) then you’d be mad not to think they have a good shot at making it to the Series.

And what about the Red Sox. Could they be contenders this season? Don’t bet against it, but they are coming from a long way down. Valentine has been replaced by former pitching coach John Farrell, who left the top job in Toronto after just one season and that move will certainly win over a despondent fan base.

The key departures in Beantown were actually during the season last year (Youk, Crawford, Gonzalez and Beckett) which enabled them to be key players in the free agency market.

Rather than go all out for the big name, such as Hamilton or Greinke, the Red Sox front office bought wisely and relatively cheaply. Sox legend David Ortiz was re-signed to a two year contract, while the line-up was strengthened by the signings of Shane Victorino, Stephen Drew and Jonny Gomes. Pitching wise, Joel Hanrahan was picked up in a trade with the Pirates that saw Boston give up relatively little in return for a proven closer, while Ryan Dempster was signed to anchor a starting pitching staff that had a surprisingly poor year last season.

Much like the Blue Jays, it would be premature to make sweeping statements about expecting division titles or pennants, particularly in such a strong division, but one thing is for sure, the AL East just got a whole lot tastier very quickly.