The Sox pulled off an early offseason beauty of a trade for former Florida ace Josh Beckett, and if he's healthy (he's never thrown 200 innings in a season), he'll certainly help. Still, the team's pitching hopes will ride largely on comebacks from right-hander Curt Schilling (just 11 starts last year, and only 93 1/3 innings) and closer Keith Foulke (45 2/3 innings in '05).

Pulling up the rear in the division, as has been their recent custom, are the Orioles and Devil Rays. The O's had a great start to '05, but only the Royals were worse than Baltimore after the All-Star break. The O's traded for a starter (right-hander Kris Benson) and a center fielder (Corey Patterson), signed free-agent catcher Ramon Hernandez and welcomed longtime Braves coach Leo Mazzone as manager Sam Perlozzo's new pitching savant. It's not nearly enough.

The Rays made plenty of moves, too, but they're still a team looking for pitching and relying on young arms and a new manager (former Angels bench coach Joe Maddon) to get them past 70 wins.

If everything goes right for the Blue Jays -- Halladay is healthy, Burnett fulfills his promise, Ryan is lights out at the end of games and everyone hits -- they might put a scare into their richer big brothers.

If not, the AL East looks like the same old Yankees-Red Sox division once again.

BEST LINEUP

The Yankees were good last year -- only the Red Sox outscored them -- but this year they stand to be even better. Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield, Hideki Matsui ... how do you get around that? Every lineup has a weak spot or two, but the holes on manager Joe Torre's card (Jorge Posada, Robinson Cano, DH Bernie Williams) simply aren't that big.

BEST ROTATION

The Jays had the best starters in the division in '05 (4.20 ERA), and that was with Halladay, the '03 Cy Young winner, and lefty Ted Lilly missing time while working through injuries. Both are healthy now, and when you team them with newcomer Burnett, lefty Gustavo Chacin and righty Josh Towers, the Jays' rotation is younger and deeper than any other in the game.

BEST BULLPEN

Most of the noise the Yankees made this winter -- Damon's signing aside -- was in beefing up their bullpen. The loss of setup man Gordon (he's now the Phillies' closer) hurt, but the team responded by signing Farnsworth, a live arm and a live wire who will fit in fine in New York -- if he doesn't explode. The Yanks also signed lefty specialist Mike Myers from the Red Sox (and lefty Ron Villone, lately of the Marlins). They can put one-time starter Aaron Small in long relief, if needed, and they'll have one-time closer Octavio Dotel, who's recovering from elbow surgery, ready at midseason, just in case. And, of course, it's awfully hard to argue against a 'pen with the incomparable Mariano Rivera at the end.

MVP

Rodriguez is the reigning American League MVP, so it'd be hard to argue against him as the best hitter in the division. But there's Ortiz and Ramirez in Boston, Miguel Tejada in Baltimore and several other Yanks who could make a run at the honor. A-Rod (.321, 48 homers, 130 RBIs in '05) still is the measure, though.

CY YOUNG

Halladay was 12-4 with a 2.41 ERA and heading for a start in the All-Star Game when Texas' Kevin Mench sent a liner off his leg, breaking it and knocking him out for the rest of the '05 season. Halladay is healthy and ready to go. And the Jays finally have the right combination of bats and bullpen to back him up.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

This high-flying division is no place for the too young or too green. The closest thing to a difference-making rookie is Jonathan Papelbon, the big Red Sox righty. Papelbon, 26, isn't technically a rookie; he was called up at the end of July last season. He pitched in 17 games, starting in three of them, and made such an impression (34 strikeouts in 34 innings) that the Sox will use him as a starter or, at worst, a key part of a shaky bullpen.

COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Nobody needs help in this division more than the Devil Rays, and nobody needs a comeback more than Rocco Baldelli. The sensational center fielder blew out his knee playing baseball in his backyard in October 2004. While rehabbing that injury, he ripped up his elbow last June, necessitating Tommy John surgery, which knocked him out of the entire 2005 season. The 24-year-old, who hit .280 with 16 homers and 74 RBIs in '04, may not be ready for Opening Day. But he's getting there. And, man, could the Rays use him.

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR

If new Red Sox starter Beckett pitches against the Yankees like he did in the '03 World Series, when he was MVP for the champion Marlins (a 1.10 ERA, 19 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings), the Sox will have a formidable 1-2 punch (with Schilling). But has to get used to pitching against a DH all year long, and he has to get tough and post a 30-start season for once.