What are next offseason moves in AL East?

In an offseason that hasn’t had a shortage of activity, the American League East has proven to be one of the busiest divisions throughout the Majors.

The Yankees and the Rays, who represented the division in the 2019 postseason, have been the most active of the group. New York made the big splash, signing Gerrit Cole to a nine-year, $324 million deal, while also agreeing to terms on a one-year pact with outfielder Brett Gardner. Tampa Bay traded Tommy Pham to San Diego for Hunter Renfroe, and it signed Japanese slugger Yoshi Tsutsugo to a two-year, $12 million deal.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom has also been busy in his first offseason with his new club, signing pitcher Martín Pérez and infielder José Peraza. There has also been plenty of speculation on whether Boston will trade Mookie Betts and David Price.

As for the Orioles and Blue Jays, the two organizations continue with their respective rebuilds. Baltimore traded Jonathan Villar to the Marlins for prospect Easton Lucas, and it selected Brandon Bailey in the Rule 5 Draft, while Toronto agreed to a two-year deal with Tanner Roark and has been linked to other top pitching free agents, including left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu.

Even with all the recent activity, the teams in the division aren’t done shopping this offseason. With just under two months before the start of Spring Training, the five front offices will remain active in order to improve their respective clubs.

Let’s take a look at what could be the next move for each of the five teams in the AL East.

Blue Jays: More starting pitching

Toronto still needs rotation help following the additions of Chase Anderson via trade, and more recently, signing Roark to a two-year, $24 million deal and agreeing to terms with Japanese right-hander Shun Yamaguchi, who could crack the rotation or be an option out of the bullpen. This next addition will say a lot about the direction of the Blue Jays’ offseason. Will they now target an arm with more upside, like Ryu, or will they stick to safer arms with higher floors and wait for their younger pitchers, like No. 1 prospect Nate Pearson, to eventually provide that high ceiling they need? One more solid addition to the Major League rotation should put the Jays in a spot where they feel relatively comfortable entering Spring Training, given their depth at Triple-A.

Orioles: Shortstop help

Baltimore's next move will be either signing a middle infielder or a pitcher. Trades for Trey Mancini or Mychal Givens don't seem particularly close, but either of them always could be candidates to go. More pressingly, the Orioles need arms and a shortstop.

Signing an infielder could be more of a pressing need, now that the shortstop market is starting to become more active. Peraza was an O’s target, but there are plenty of veteran glove-first options left, and that is the kind of player Baltimore will look to bring in. Adeiny Hechavarria, anyone?

This move would be made, of course, to replace Villar, whom the O’s traded to the Marlins earlier this month. Baltimore’s only other in-house options are Pat Valaika and perhaps Hanser Alberto or Dilson Herrera, though neither is considered an everyday shortstop.

Rays: Right-handed hitter

The Rays’ focus this offseason has been to improve an offense that finished 18th in runs scored per game last season, and while they aren’t done shopping, they believe that adding Renfroe and Tsutsugo gets them closer to achieving that goal.

However, with Tsutsugo now projected to hit in the middle of the lineup, the Rays have a lot of left-handed-hitting options, but not a lot of right-handed-hitting help. Free agent Avisaíl García signed a two-year deal with the Brewers, and the Rays must make tough decisions on Guillermo Heredia, Matt Duffy and Jesús Aguilar, so in the meantime, they are left with Yandy Díaz, Willy Adames, Renfroe and Mike Zunino as the only projected key contributors that hit from the right side.

In order to make the lineup a bit more functional heading into the 2020 season, the Rays will have to add a right-handed hitter. Daniel Robertson and Mike Brosseau are in-house options, but Tampa Bay will also explore the possibilities of signing players like Edwin Encarnacion, C.J. Cron and Steven Souza Jr.

Red Sox: Trying to trade Price

It has been well-documented that the Red Sox need to move some payroll, perhaps as much as $25 million, to reach ownership’s goal of getting the team’s payroll below the luxury-tax threshold of $208 million. Price is owed $96 million over the next three seasons. The Sox would have to absorb some of his remaining salary. Given how many starting pitchers have moved already this offseason, the front office is confident a new home can be found for Price. The Padres, Cardinals, Reds and Angels are teams to keep an eye on.

Yankees: Backup catcher

With the Cole holding pattern lifted and Gardner secured for another year -- he'll be a capable option in center field with Aaron Hicks (Tommy John surgery) expected to be out until at least June -- general manager Brian Cashman is free to focus on the Yankees' other offseason needs.

Austin Romine signed with the Tigers, so the Yankees will have to sort out their backup-catcher situation over the offseason. Cashman has expressed confidence in Kyle Higashioka, but another option could be free agent Martín Maldonado, who caught Cole 10 times in 2019. In those games, Cole had a 1.57 ERA and a .471 opponent OPS, his lowest numbers with any of Houston’s catchers.

Now boasting an impressive rotation headed by Cole, Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton and Luis Severino, the Yankees are expected to continue shopping left-hander J.A. Happ, though there is no imminent deadline to move the veteran. Happ is set to earn $17 million in 2020, a figure that could offset some of Cole’s contract and help the Yanks avoid luxury-tax penalties.