Yankees still look like favorites in weakened American League

The 2024 Yankees were American League champions. It is a forever designation. It will not historically come with footnotes. 

Yet, I can’t shake that the organization’s first pennant in 15 years owed something to a weak AL. The nemeses Astros and expected burgeoning power Orioles took a step backward, and the defending champion Rangers, Rays and Blue Jays retreated more than that. That opened a door to an ideal AL Central postseason cakewalk to the World Series for the Yankees. 

I do not, for example, think the 2024 Yankees were better than the 2017, ’19 or ’22 versions, who all lost in the ALCS to the Astros. There just was not an AL foe as good as those Astros this time. 

Nothing that has occurred so far this offseason has radically upgraded the AL. In fact, the third-place MVP finisher (Juan Soto), fifth-place Cy Young (Corbin Burnes) and Kyle Tucker shifted to the NL. The favorites to land the biggest international prize this offseason (Roki Sasaki) are the Dodgers and Padres. The AL team that has done best importing NL talent is the Yankees — Cody Bellinger, Fernando Cruz, Max Fried, Paul Goldschmidt and Devin Williams (all but Fried from the tepid NL Central).