Dodgers’ Dave Roberts calling out AL East is an insult to Yankees

If this is Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts’ logic, then how is the AL East not the best division in Major League Baseball?

On Tuesday, New York Yankees fans (among many others) were up in arms about Roberts’ comments claiming the NL West is tops in the sport. It was odd to take a shot at the AL East because it feels like fuel for the opposition later down the road. But hey, not our problem!

Anyway, the manner in which Roberts explained his reasoning just didn’t make sense. He claimed the Dodgers were “in battles every night” to win games against their division opponents — which is fair. The NL West is good! The Padres and Giants are contenders, while the Rockies and D-Backs are no pushovers.

However, the Baltimore Orioles are last in the AL East, yet have a better record than both Arizona and Colorado. The AL East has the best team in baseball (the Yankees) and three others at least eight games above .500 (as of Roberts’ comments).

Roberts seemingly disregarding that surface-level information was egregious enough. Might he take a look at MLB’s strength of schedule rankings for the 2022 season?

Atop that list, per TeamRankings.com, are the Blue Jays (1) and Orioles (2). The Red Sox are 12th. The Yankees are 14th. The Rays are 16th. The first NL West team isn’t until 15th (Arizona).

Here’s where the NL West ranks as of June 28:

• Diamondbacks – 15th hardest schedule
• Rockies – 21st hardest schedule
• Giants – 22nd hardest schedule
• Padres – 27th hardest schedule
• Dodgers – 30th hardest schedule

Hey Roberts, your team has literally had the easiest schedule IN THE LEAGUE to date! The easiest! Nobody’s had it easier!

Dodgers’ Dave Roberts indirectly took a shot at the Yankees with AL East comments

Additionally, the worst run differential in the AL East is the Orioles’ -18 mark. The worst in the NL West? Colorado’s -66 and Arizona’s -48. The Yankees also lead the way in that department (+148) over the second-place Dodgers (+128).

https://twitter.com/SportsNetLA/status/1541555830390067201?s=20&t=DPzVO-rrxbOVz7j3UU4fsw

There were just so many other ways to go about this outside of directly calling out the AL East, which, on paper, without argument, is the best division in baseball. How else can we further prove that? The Orioles, who are the last-place team among those five, have a better record than every other divisions’ fourth-place team.

Do Yankees fans pride themselves on being the best team in MLB while competing in the toughest division? Absolutely. But the bigger theme here is calling out somebody when they’re flat-out wrong. Hopefully Yankees fans can tell him that to his face at some point in October. That’d be cool.

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