The Rays Are Still The Team to Beat

If this most recent series has shown us anything it is that the Red Sox biggest weakness is their bullpen. When going on all cylinders, their offense can help make up for this but that won't matter as we get later into the season and especially when we get to October. The Yanks made a good trade to strengthen their bullpen this week and that is going to help them make a run. I still don't think the Rays are going to go away, and so if the Sox bullpen doesn't shape up this may be a Yanks-Rays division race. You can never count the Sox out, they're too good, but without a strong bullpen I don't see how they remain a strong contender for the division. Look at the Yanks, the only reason they're even in contention is because their bullpen has locked things down (their starting pitching has also been good, but often for six innings at a time, bringing us back to the bullpen making leads stick). This should be an interesting couple of months.