The New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays have made the World Series in back-to-back seasons, though both came up short against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Even with the Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles fading into the background in 2025, that alone would make the American League East a gauntlet, and the Boston Red Sox's postseason turn only further ups the ante in baseball's best division.
However, not all is as bright as it seems in the city that never sleeps. Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner spoke to ESPN about the team's failed playoff run in 2025, lamenting the players' inability to show up in big moments (while simultaneously defending much-maligned manager Aaron Boone).
The most shocking revelation made, though, was Steinbrenner's admittace that he wants to drop the payroll this winter, prior to the 2027 MLB lockout.
"Would it be ideal if I went down [with the payroll]? Of course," the billionaire said. Though he later admitted that he doesn't foresee that coming to fruition, Steinbrenner did double-down on the notion that the Yankees' supply of money isn't endless: "Everybody wants to talk about revenues. They need to talk about our expenses, including the $100 million expense to the city of New York that we have to pay every Feb. 1, including the COVID year. It all starts to add up in a hurry."
Uh... advantage Red Sox?
Red Sox could emerge as AL East favorites with strong 2025-26 offseason
As long as the Yankees have Aaron Judge, they'll be at least semi-competitive. But if they truly forego manipulating their most advantageous asset (infinite dollars to spend), they could find their old and diminishing roster simply isn't built to stand up to the next wave of MLB talent proliferating throughout the sport.
The Blue Jays could lose Bo Bichette in free agency and have big rotation needs to fill after Kevin Gausman and Trey Yesavage. They appear to be a team on the rise, but they're older, already expensive, and finished in last place in the division just one year ago. They aren't insurmountable.
The Red Sox, meanwhile, just acquired the top starting pitcher they've been hunting for in Sonny Gray, who should slot nicely into the top of the rotation between Garret Crochet and Brayan Bello. With plenty of prospect depth to deal from and more payroll to work with (thanks to the Cardinals' paying down half of Gray's contract), they should be far from done this offseason.
Adding another top-tier starting pitcher is probably a good idea if it's financially feasible, and the team could choose to go the free agency (Dylan Cease, Framber Valdez, etc.) or trade route (Freddy Peralta, Hunter Greene, etc.) if it wants another frontline rotation member. Otherwise, trading an outfielder for some infield or late-inning bullpen help is now probably the top priority, especially if Alex Bregman is allowed to walk.
No matter what next steps the team takes, it's clear the Red Sox have noticed that their moment is here. As the Yankees cry poor and the Blue Jays try to recover from their disastrous World Series choke, the Sox appear ready to emerge as the AL East frontrunners.