2017 AL East Positional Rankings: Outfielders, designated hitters and benches

Welcome to Part Two of my AL East position comparisons. If you’re just checking in, the premise is simple: I’m ranking the five teams in the division at every position.

I started with the infield in Part One. Today, let’s move on to the outfielders, designated hitters, and bench players.

Spoiler alert: After taking one top spot on the infielders’ list, the Orioles get shut out of first in this one.

Ranking the AL East outfielders:

Left Field

1. Brett Gardner, Yankees
2. Andrew Benintendi, Red Sox
3. Hyun Soo Kim, Orioles
4. Colby Rasmus (injured)/Mallex Smith, Rays
5. Ezequiel Carrera, Blue Jays

For years, Gardner has quietly been the straw that stirs  the drink for the Yankees, setting the table atop the order for the bigger names in the lineup. At age 33, he’s no longer the burner he once was — his 16 steals last year were the fewest he’s ever had in a full season — but he still provides quality defense and on-base skills. By the end of this season, he could be passed atop the rankings by Boston’s 22-year-old Benintendi, who is widely regarded as the No. 1 prospect in baseball.

Kim, after a shaky beginning with the Orioles in 2016, emerged from exile to hit .302 with a team-leading .382 OBP in 95 games. He’ll need to continue being an on-base machine to atone for his lack of defensive range. He’ll likely have Joey Rickard and/or Craig Gentry as a platoon partner and defensive replacement.

The Rays may divvy left field starts between newcomers Rasmus (slowly recovering from October hip surgery) and Smith, which sounds like an Odd Couple promo. “One is a power-hitting veteran. The other is a fresh-faced speedster. Can they share playing time without driving each other crazy? Mondays on CBS!” Meanwhile, the Blue Jays will give the journeyman Carrera a shot at starting duty, but he might not have the bat for it. Melvin Upton Jr. could get some starts as well, which doesn’t make things any better.

Center Field

1. Kevin Kiermaier, Rays
2. Jackie Bradley Jr., Red Sox
3. Adam Jones, Orioles
4. Kevin Pillar, Blue Jays
5. Jacoby Ellsbury, Yankees

AL East center fielders are a stellar group as a whole. The only one who’s clearly not on the same tier as the others is the declining Ellsbury, who seems as if he’s aged 10 years since joining the Yankees three seasons ago.

Ranking the other four is no easy task. Ultimately, Kiermaier’s otherworldly defensive prowess earns him the No. 1 spot, just as it recently earned him a six-year, $53 million extension with Tampa Bay. Oh, and he’s a pretty decent hitter, too. Bradley is also well known for his slick leather, but he was actually the best offensive center fielder in the division in 2016, posting an .835 OPS with 26 homers and 87 RBIs.

There’s no denying Jones’ track record — five All-Star  appearances, four Gold Gloves — but he’s coming off a bit of a down year, as his .746 OPS was his worst since 2008. A return to full health for Jones, who was banged up for much of 2016, could be just what the doctor ordered. As for Pillar, he’s another wizard with the glove, but his poor bat dampens his overall value.

Right Field

1. Mookie Betts, Red Sox
2. Jose Bautista, Blue Jays
3. Seth Smith, Orioles
4. Aaron Judge, Yankees
5. Steven Souza Jr., Rays

Betts, the runner-up for 2016 AL MVP, is the unquestioned star of the division, and he’s only 24. He’ll be a thorn in the side of his AL East opponents for a long time to come. As for thorns in the side, Bautista fits that description in an entirely different way, considering how many Orioles he has irritated with his on-field antics over the years. (Just ask Dan Duquette, who said the club wouldn’t pursue Bautista in free agency because Baltimore fans don’t like him.) Even coming off a down year, it’s hard to count out Bautista — who has 249 home runs since 2010.

The Orioles acquired the veteran Smith to help their on-base ability, although he was out of commission for most of the spring with a right hamstring strain. Weak against lefties, he’ll need a platoon partner such as Gentry or Rickard. Judge fared poorly in a 27-game tryout with the Yankees last season, but the verdict isn’t in yet. He has light-tower power and plenty of potential. Souza, on the other hand, hasn’t fulfilled the potential the Rays once thought he had.

Designated Hitter

1. Hanley Ramirez, Red Sox
2. Mark Trumbo, Orioles
3. Kendrys Morales, Blue Jays
4. Matt Holliday, Yankees
5. Corey Dickerson, Rays

After struggling defensively at three different positions in the last three years, Ramirez has finally found the perfect spot: DH. He can focus on mashing the ball — which he did well last year, powering 30 homers and 111 RBIs — without needing to put on a glove. So, too, can Trumbo, whose right field stint fared poorly in 2016. Trumbo is bringing his homer-heavy bat back to Baltimore, though he’ll be hard-pressed to match his league-leading 47 blasts last year.

Morales, coming off two strong seasons in Kansas City, now faces the unenviable task of replacing Edwin Encarnacion in the Blue Jays’ lineup. The Yankees, too, added a new DH in the 37-year-old Holliday, who has had an outstanding career. But he may be on his last legs. Dickerson, the relative youngster of the group at age 27, can hit right-handers, but gets eaten alive by southpaws, who held him to a .589 OPS in 113 plate appearances in 2016.

Bench

1. Red Sox
2. Rays
3. Blue Jays
4. Yankees
5. Orioles

Led by super-utility man Brock Holt and lefty-masher Chris Young, the Red Sox have plenty of bench options at their disposal. The Rays have a rather young and versatile bench that includes 27-year-old Tim Beckham and 26-year-old Nick Franklin. The Blue Jays aren’t half bad, either, after plucking jack-of-all-trades Steve Pearce from the Orioles to join defensive-minded reserves such as infielder Ryan Goins.

The Yankees didn’t get much production out of their bench last season, although this year they’ve added slugger Chris Carter as a potential late-inning pinch-hitter. Then there are the Orioles, whose bench in recent years has been so unimpressive that Buck Showalter seems loath to use it. His projected bench this year includes few legitimate pinch-hitting options, and backup catcher Caleb Joseph — in case you hadn’t heard — had zero RBIs last year.