Even David Ortiz is picking the Yankees to win the AL East this year

Staff writer

Fri, Mar 23, 2018, 1:54 AM

The New York Yankees have a lot of buzz going into 2018. The team is coming off a surprising season, and still have some promising youngsters waiting in the wings. They also made the biggest move of the offseason, acquiring Giancarlo Stanton.

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Because of that, it wouldn’t be a shock to see them picked to win the American League East by a ton of analysts.

But we can’t say we thought it would go this far. Turns out, one of the analysts who believes the Yankees are the team to beat in the East is David Ortiz. You know, Big Papi? The legendary Boston Red Sox designated hitter? Yeah, that guy.

Ortiz told Nicole Yang of Boston.com that the addition of Stanton gives the Yankees too much firepower within the division.

“They pretty much stacked the lineup with more power,” he said. “I don’t think anyone else in the division can compete with that.”

Before Red Sox fans lose their minds, Ortiz still believes Boston will compete in 2018. He sees the team as an “underdog,” but believes they’ll exceed expectations “more than usual.”

We’re not sure we here at The Stew would go that far. While many will pick the Yankees to win the AL East, we don’t imagine there will be a lot of people projecting the Red Sox for 75 wins. They’ll be good too, and will probably get some love in predictions as well.

Is it at all concerning that Ortiz didn’t even pick them? Eh, probably not. Though given Ortiz’s reluctance to embrace the Yankees even after his retirement, winning him over might just be the team’s most improbable victory of the season.