Jon Morosi polled 20 execs, asked them to pick AL East winner

[Jordan Tuwiner]

https://twitter.com/jonmorosi/status/280883264577732610

Polled 20 scouts and execs tonight, asked them to pick AL East winner if season started today: TOR-13, NYY-5, TB-1, BAL-1, BOS-0.

Pretty clearly shows what scouts/execs think of Toronto's acquisitions.

[Jordan Tuwiner]

Some more on this from his column: http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/toro ... ast-121712

… The Industry views the Blue Jays as the clear frontrunner. They received 13 of 20 votes, or 65 percent. Offseason blockbusters tend to have that effect — even for a team that last made the playoffs in Year 1 of the Clinton administration.

… The Industry thinks the 2012 Orioles were a fluke. They were picked to finish last by 10 of the 20 voters, despite returning most of the players who produced a 93-win season and the franchise’s first postseason berth in 15 years.

[birdwatcher55]

I think the Orioles are a pretty solid team and will be even more solid if they sign Adam Laroche

[Matt P]

Like I said in another thread one can make good points on why any team will win it and why any team will finish in last.

[Old Sneakers]

I hate being pessimistic, but I do sort of see things the way these Execs do. The Orioles finishing last seems out of place as does another 93 win season. I do not think it's simply a matter of a true clean up hitter. Once again I think the team lives and dies by it's starting pitching. Also comments made about winning so many extra inning games do not seem out of place at all.

[ofahn]

I hate being pessimistic, but I do sort of see things the way these Execs do.

I abstain from the Orange Kool Aid just enough to be realistic that we won't be pathetic any more, but we really don't know what to expect from this team in 2013. Nobody really had a career year last year and our core is young, so we should be able to expect some improvement from them. The same goes for our pitching, but none of them have an established track record.

I posted before last season that we could build for the future and actually field a winning team. I was right about that and pleasantly surprised with the results. At this point I see the 2014 team as winning at least 85 games with the opportunity to improve that by at least ten IF we improve substantially in certain areas, all of which I see as reasonable to achieve.

For all of the fans that thought Hamilton, or Greinke, or Anibel Sanchez would have pushed us over the edge if we would just spent REALLY stupid amounts of money on them have you considered that those players could NOT have guaranteed that the rest of the team would perform to last year's level or better?

We have SO many question marks on our roster that 2013 will be a year of discovery. Just think of what will be coming in 2014 and start to dream.

[Jordan Tuwiner]

Like I said in another thread one can make good points on why any team will win it and why any team will finish in last.

It's something that is just so great about baseball. No matter who a team signs, trades for, or how high their payroll is you still never know what to expect.