The Balanced Schedule and the AL East

[longgame]

Saw a headline on ESPN+ which I don't get but I got the gist of it.  The AL East is feasting on everyone else and battling each other to a draw.  I looked at the stats and they are fairly shocking.

TB is 10-7 in the division, but 22-5 against everyone else.  They're the only ones with a winning record in the AL East.  Sox, O's and Yankees are all at .500 against the division, Toronto is 5-8 thanks to the Sox.  Outside of the division is the main difference in the division.  O's are 22-9, Jays are 20-10, Yanks 17-12 and the Sox in last place at 17-13.  I was really surprised that the Sox are 5-9 against the AL who they usually kill but getting swept by the Pirates and Cards will do that.

I don't know the exact mix in this new schedule but it sure exposes all of the teams.  The last place in the East is likely to have a better record than one of the division winners.

[MongoLikeSox]

The Sox won 78 games last year despite getting spanked by the AL East. I wonder if the AL East will continue to be this tough now that the schedule is balanced and it takes less wins to get to the playoffs? 15 years ago, getting 95 wins was the goal to almost assure a postseason trip. Tampa got in last season with 86 wins.