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Today, we have a look at the five series the Cubs will play against AL East clubs this year. One of those series will be the last three games of the regular season!
Baltimore Orioles
Key departures: Scott Blewett, Corbin Martin, Gary Sanchez, Tomoyuki Sugano, Dylan Carlson, Alex Jackson, Grayson Rodriguez
Key arrivals: Pete Alonso, Bryan Ramos, Blaze Alexander, Chris Bassitt, Jackson Kowar, Shane Baz, Ryan Helsley, Taylor Ward
The O’s had made the postseason two years in a row in 2023-24 and seemed primed for another playoff year in 2025 and then… klunk. On May 28 they were 19-36 and had been outscored 310-213. Yikes.
They were better after that, going 56-51 the rest of the way, but the damage had been done. A lot of this was a down year from catcher Adley Rutschman, who missed a lot of time with two oblique injuries. The O’s had almost no power — no one hit more than 17 home runs and the pitching was also bad, with the team allowing the sixth-most runs.
The power outage has been presumably addressed by the signing of Alonso and acquisition of Ward by trade. They are counting on Shane Baz to upgrade their rotation and Ryan Helsley should be fine at closer. Former Cub Andrew Kittredge, an Oriole until the Cubs got him last year, returns to Baltimore.
This is a tough division and even an improved Orioles team will have trouble competing.
At Baltimore: July 7-8-9
SB Nation Orioles site:Camden Chat
Boston Red Sox
Key departures: Steven Matz, Dustin May, Rob Refsnyder, Alex Bregman, Lucas Giolito, Liam Hendriks, John Brebbia, Nathaniel Lowe, Josh Winckowski, Vaughn Grissom, Hunter Dobbins
Key arrivals: Johan Oviedo, Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras, Ranger Suárez, Matt Thaiss, Caleb Durbin, Andruw Monasterio, Brendan Rodgers, Isiah Kiner-Falefa
The Red Sox lost a wild-card series to the Yankees last year after an 89-win season. They lost Bregman to the Cubs, and so set out to upgrade their offense in another way, trading for former Cub Contreras. They also solidified their rotation with Gray, Oviedo and Suárez, and Durbin will take over third base from Bregman.
The Red Sox have made the postseason just twice since their 2018 World Series win and in this division, it might be tough to repeat even a wild-card spot.
At Boston: Sept. 25-26-27
SB Nation Red Sox site:Over The Monster
New York Yankees
Key departures: Austin Slater, Luke Weaver, Devin Williams, Jonathan Loaisiga, Scott Effross, Mark Leiter Jr.
Key arrivals: Paul DeJong, Angel Chivilli, Osvaldo Bido, Rafael Montero, Ryan Weathers
Take a look at those lists above. When I was going through the Yankees transactions list for making those two groups, I kept saying, “Nope, signed him back, nope, signed him back…”
The Yankees are running back most of their 2025 season, then. Quite a number of guys who were Yankees free agents, including Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt, Trent Grisham and Amed Rosario, will all be back. The biggest loss for them is probably Devin Williams, who didn’t turn into the closer they hoped he would be. The Yankees acquired David Bednar from the Pirates last year and he’ll close for them.
They’ll have the same rotation with the addition of Ryan Weathers, acquired by trade for several minor leaguers. That includes Cam Schlittler, whose last name has already vexed a number of broadcasters. (And he’s really good, too.)
Shortstop Anthony Volpe, who had a bad year in 2025 largely due to a torn labrum, is expected back, but not for Opening Day.
I had to laugh when I read this Giancarlo Stanton quote:
And, of course, there’s Aaron Judge, one of the best hitters on the planet.
At Wrigley Field: July 31-Aug. 1-2
SB Nation Yankees site:Pinstripe Alley
Tampa Bay Rays
Key departures: Shane Baz, Pete Fairbanks, Bob Seymour, Brandon Lowe, Josh Lowe,
Key arrivals: Jake Fraley, Steven Wilson, Jake Woodford, Cedric Mullins, Steven Matz, Justyn-Henry Malloy, Cam Booser, Ben Williamson, Nick Martinez, Gavin Lux
People say, “The Rays always seem to be competitive,” but now they’ve missed the postseason two years in a row after five straight seasons in October baseball, including a 100-win season in 2021.
They’re revamping their rotation with the additions of Matz and Martinez, but both of those guys are in their mid-30s and it’s a reasonable question to ask how much they have left.
Their long-time closer, Fairbanks, headed cross-state to the Marlins and at this time the Rays haven’t designated a closer.
Lux was once a top Dodgers prospect, but he’s never quite fulfilled that, in part due to injuries. Perhaps he can recapture something in Tampa. Mullins is another reclamation project for the Rays.
Junior Caminero had a great under-the-radar year in 2025. Did you know he hit 45 home runs and had a 4.4 bWAR season? At age 21? Only Judge and Cal Raleigh hit more homers among AL players.
In short: They have good management, but at a certain point the players have to produce. They will be moving back into the repaired Tropicana Field this year after a year of playing in the Yankees’ spring park, Steinbrenner Field. That should help. In fact, the Cubs will be there for the grand re-opening.
At Tampa: April 6-7-8 (includes the Rays home opener April 6)
SB Nation Rays site:DRays Bay
Toronto Blue Jays
Key departures: Chris Bassitt, Bo Bichette, Ryan Borucki, Seranthony Dominguez, Ty France, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Justin Bruihl, Joey Loperfido
Key arrivals: Dylan Cease, Cody Ponce, Tyler Rogers, Jorge Alcala, Josh Winckowski, Jesse Hahn, Jesús Sánchez
2025 was “oh-so-close” for the Jays in several ways.
They won the AL East on a tiebreaker; maybe that was the difference to getting to the World Series, or not.
Then they lost the Series to the Dodgers in agonizing fashion, on a bad baserunning play and a miracle defensive catch.
It’ll take work for the Jays to get back there, but they seem to have the team to do it. The only major missing piece is Bichette, who signed with the Mets. Andrés Gimenez, a capable player if not as good a hitter, takes over at shortstop.
The rest of the offense is back. They scored 798 runs in 2025, fourth in MLB (and five more runs than the Cubs did). The starting rotation has been improved by the addition of Cease. Vladdy Jr. had something of a “down” year in 2025, at least from his previous standards. He turns 27 in a couple of weeks. If he returns to that previousl level the Jays could be a real wrecking crew this year. It should be another good Yankees/Jays battle at the top of the AL East.
At Wrigley Field: June 19-20-21
SB Nation Blue Jays site:Bluebird Banter