AL East season preview
Forget the Red Sox, can the Yankees keep up with the Rays?
As Mick Jagger famously sang, "You can't always get what you want." It's true even when you're the Yankees and can outspend anyone. New York fans were shocked when free agent and 2008 AL Cy Young winner Cliff Lee -- who was all but penciled into the NY rotation -- signed with the Phillies, leaving the Yanks scrambling for starters in the wake of Andy Pettitte's retirement. Without Lee, Derek Jeter & Co. are a cut below the Red Sox, who added All-Stars Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford to a roster that won 89 times in 2010, despite being decimated by injuries.
The real drama could be at the bottom of the division, where the Orioles -- who brought on slick-fielding shortstop J.J. Hardy, 40-home run threat Mark Reynolds and nine-time All-Star Vladimir Guerrero this off-season -- might have the goods to snap a 13-year streak of losing seasons, longest in the AL.
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ESPN The Magazine: April 4, 2011
Check out ESPN The Magazine's April 4, 2011 issue below.
MLB Preview
- AL Division Previews: East, West, Central

- NL Division Previews: East, West, Central

- An exclusive interview with Bud Selig
- One season, one million decisions

- MLB Player X on Cabrera, Pujols and Boras

- No joke: The Royals' farm system is for real
- Baseball's next frontier: soccer-mad Brazil
- Southpaw Aroldis Chapman brings heat

- Less is more: The Pablo Sandoval story
- Latin America Baseball Confidential
Go/Play
- MLB Draft: NL Central targets
- Olney: Scanning the bullpen market
- Szymborski: Best in-house upgrades
- Cameron: Lackey's first-pitch success
- Law: Diagnosing Hosmer, Moustakas' woes
