Ryan Ripken

All right.

I still think because of going to the pitching, I'm going to say the Yankees are still going to be the favorite.

I will then say, oh, man, it's going to coin flip.

I think the Orioles are fourth, and I think the Blue Jays second, Red Sox third, Orioles fourth, Rays fifth.

There we go.

And here's the thing.

When you look at organizations...

I was asked about what's going to take the step for the Orioles for people to consider them to be serious contenders moving forward.

Well, one is proving to free agents or the perspective around the league is this isn't a one-year thing.

So like in 2023 when they got hot, when no one expected them to jump from, okay, maybe it's a nice story to be a playoff contender to being the one seed in the AL East,

People still had some questions.

They thought they were on the right track, but what Orioles organization, what were they going to be moving forward?

And last year, they didn't spend a lot, and people went out.

They're going back to some of their old ways.

So you have to prove it.

The Yankees have proved it.

And also, I think Boone gets a bad rep.

They're always in it.

They are a well-run organization.

They haven't won in 16 years.