New York Yankees: How do Yanks stack up against top AL contenders?

The race for the American League pennant should be a good one in 2018. How do the top contenders compare to each other and how do the New York Yankees stack up?

Everyone knows the Houston Astros were World Series champions in 2017, defeating the New York Yankees in seven games to take the American League crown before beating the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven in the Fall Classic.

The Yankees closed the gap by acquiring reigning NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton. The Astros countered by trading for Gerrit Cole. It took them a while, but the Boston Red Sox eventually signed J.D. Martinez to keep up with the Joneses. The Cleveland Indians didn’t make any big splash additions this offseason, but they still have one of the best rosters in baseball.

The Los Angeles Angels, Minnesota Twins, Seattle Mariners, and Toronto Blue Jays will all be looking to make the playoffs as well, but the American League pennant will most likely come down to New York, Houston, Boston, and Cleveland.

So how do those four AL contenders compare to each other? They spent the offseason trying to one-up each other. Who came out on top? Who has the best roster as we’ve reached Opening Day?

Let’s break it down by position. We’ll go around the diamond and look at how the four contenders stack up.

For each position, we’ll give four points to the team with the top player at each spot, three points to the team with the second-best player, two points for having the third-best player, and one point for having the fourth-best player.

Understanding that offense isn’t everything and that pitching is crucial come playoff time, we’ll dive into the starting rotations and bullpens of these teams in the near future.

Let’s get started and see where these four AL contenders stand when the points are added up!