AL East Roundup

It’s been quiet in Yankee Universe of late, so I thought this would be a good time to catch up on what is going on in the rest of the AL East.

• Our friends over at Birds Watcher recently took a look at Adam Jones and the trade talk surrounding him. Undoubtedly one of the Orioles best players, how much longer can we expect Jones to remain in Baltimore? Chances are he is going to look very attractive to contending teams come the trade deadline next July.
• With Theo, Francona, and Papelbon already shipped out of Boston, Derek at BoSox Injection thinks that Jason Varitek and Tim Wakefield could be the next to go after the Red Sox declined to offer either of them arbitration. We still have a long way to go this offseason, but it certainly looks as if the Yankees/Red Sox matchups will have a vastly different look next season than they have the past few years.
•  Never to be overlooked in the strong AL East, the Blue Jays are once again set to be a thorn in the side of the rest of the division. The guys at Jays Journal have a rundown and analysis of Bill James’ predictions for the Jays 2012 rotation and position players.
• The Rays dealt John Jaso to the Mariners yesterday for reliever Josh Lueke, and Devon Rogers at Rays Colored Glasses breaks down why this was the right move for the Rays. The possible bad news for the Yankees: if the Rays replace Jaso with a stronger arm behind the plate, Brett Gardner might have to think twice before swiping bases against them next season.