What do you call 200 guys sitting on their couch Watching the MLB Playoffs?

You call them the AL East.  5 teams in this division, 40 players per team in the months of September and October.  I want you to think about that for a minute.  The AL East!  Not a single team in the playoffs past the ALDS.  This is a division that for the last 2 seasons has been projected to set the record for the most combined wins for a division.  How can that be wrong with teams that have the caliber and payrolls like the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees, who were just eliminated from the post season by the Detroit Tigers minutes ago.  These teams are in the top four on the list for highest payroll for any sport in the world (the other two teams being soccer teams in Europe).  Then you add the outstanding pitching and the young, capable offense of the Tampa Bay Rays, and you have 3 of the best teams in baseball. Then you have a situation where any other two teams could help set that record that I mentioned above.  Those teams are the Toronto Blue Jays who have a strong offense lead by the two-time home run leader in Major League Baseball, Jose Bautista.  Then you add the Baltimore Orioles.  Kind of the black sheep in the division.  A lot of older players who are past their prime (see Vladamir Guererro), but with a few young prospects who could be good (see Matt Wieters).

However, after digressing for a moment, I would like to point out yet again, that a division that combined for 428 wins on the season, with the top 3 all getting 90+ wins a piece, will not be representing in baseballs version of the Final Four.  It is some what refreshing to see, seeing as how recently it's been Yankees or Red Sox, who's going to the ALCS or World Series?  Now there's a change in a sport that is criticized for letting teams like those two afford so much more talent than the rest.  That is some what refreshing.  But one has to ask, what could lead to this division not being able to send 1 representative to the Championship Series?  Could it be confidence? Comfort?  Are the Blue Jays and Orioles happy finishing nowhere about fourth place every year?  Are the Red Sox, Rays, and Yankees just okay with 90 wins?  As we saw this year, 90 wins isn't enough to cut it in this league, especially in that division.  I think the Yankees, Rays and Sox have gotten too confident.  Thinking to themselves, "Oh, we're [insert team name here]!  It's a give in that we'll make the playoffs.  Of course we'll make it to the ALCS.  Now we just have to worry about our flight arrangements to the National League ballparks at the end of the month."  Well guess what boys?  One of you didn't even make the playoffs, after the biggest collapse in the history of baseball.  Another made an outstanding come back in the month of September only to get a single win in October.  And the last has always been synonymous with winning, and they couldn't even win a best of 3 series with 3 games at home.

I'll tell you one thing, AL East.  It's time to step it up.  It's officially a year not one of your teams is in the ALCS.  There will be no AL East pride marching into the Fall Classic that we call the World Series.  No!  The best division in baseball (which in the regular season it was, so don't give me any of that, "Oh well the NL Central had two 90+ win teams too and they're both still in the post season."  I don't want to hear that.  The AL East was the best division in baseball in the regular season.)  All I can hope for now is that at least some of the players will be watching SportsCenter or some other Sports channel and see on the ticker at the bottom of the screen that there is not a single AL East team listed.  It's a crying shame.  They're adding another wild card team to the post season in 2013.  You know why?  The AL East!  Plain and simple.  So now rest up with you're overly expensive homes, cars, and appliances because in 2012, you are expected to show up, and prove why it is that every year baseball analysts from all different sports networks predict the record to be broken this year.  Step it up boys...all of you!