Power ranking where Orioles stand in AL East after torrid first half of offseason

The Baltimore Orioles have been extremely busy this offseason so far. Not only did they strike a trade early on that brought Taylor Ward into the fold at the cost of giving up on Grayson Rodriguez, but they then went out and signed Ryan Helsley to beef up their bullpen. Of course, they then closed the deal on the blockbuster signing of Pete Alonso.

With the Winter Meetings thankfully in the rearview mirror, all the Orioles really have to do is add one of the top available starting pitchers which is certainly easier said than done. As for how Baltimore stacks up against the rest of the AL East, it is safe to say that the Orioles have made a lot of progress even if they are far from done.

AL East Power Rankings: Here is where the Orioles stand after the Winter Meetings.

Before angry emails get sent, this is a snapshot of how things are this offseason right now. Even if reunions or signings are likely, they do not count here unless players are under contract. That means teams that been quiet to start the offseason and/or teams that have key free agents are going to look worse now than they do when their rosters are finished progress. Sorry, Yankees fans...Cody Bellinger is still a free agent right now even if going back to the Bronx is the betting favorite.

With that, lets get to the rankings.

1.) Blue Jays

Hard to go wrong with the defending AL champs especially when they have gone absolutely wild this offseason in signing Dylan Cease, Tyler Rogers, and Cody Ponce with all of the buzz right now being that they are still shopping at the top of the market. Given that they are returning most of the players (outside of Bo Bichette) that got them to the World Series and they are adding more high end talent, they are the class of the division until proven otherwise.

2.) Yankees

The next three spots feel like they could be in any order and it would still make sense. The nod sadly goes to the Yankees as they have a bit more rotation depth than the Orioles as well as this guy named Aaron Judge who is pretty good at baseball and Gerrit Cole is coming back relatively soon. All of the AL East teams feel very likely to make multiple impact moves before the 2026 season and all are incomplete at the moment, but the Yankees get the slight edge for now.

3.) Orioles

No one will blame you if you are banking on the Orioles' existing lineup pieces rebounding in 2026 and you put Baltimore at the #2 (putting at the top would be less defensible). The Orioles have so much young offensive talent that even if a few of them hit, they are going to be very dangerous going forward. Trevor Rogers and Kyle Bradish are a great 1-2 in the rotation, but there is a relative lack of track record with them and the depth drops off after that. If Baltimore adds a true frontline starter, they have a strong, strong case to move up.

4.) Red Sox

What exactly are the Red Sox doing? They have all of this young talent on both sides of the ball and they play in a massive market. You would think they would be looking to be aggressive this offseason. Instead, Alex Bregman is still a free agent along with six others of varying importance and Boston's crowning achievement this offseason thus far is trading for a declining and 36-year-old Sonny Gray. With so many talented young guys, they could go wild next season and look like geniuses. As of now, it feels like their front office is hesitant to spend and that could cost them.

5.) Rays

Don't ever count out the Rays. Ever. There have been so many times when experts have looked at their rosters and declared Tampa's improbable run of success dead only for the Rays to figure it out yet again. That said, there isn't anyone on the Rays other than Junior Caminero (who is definitely a monster) that is particularly scary and years of brain drain and losing free agents has finally taken it's toll. With their farm system not likely to churn out much in the way of offensive upside soon, the Rays are going to have to do more externally if they want to keep pace.