AL East’s hottest/coldest players for 2024

The New York Yankees were blessed with the two best players in the American League East last season, though a fat lot of good it did them.

The Yanks struggled to an 82-80 record and lagged 19 games behind the first-place Baltimore Orioles. They barely topped .500 and badly missed the playoffs.

Yet the presence of Gerrit Cole and Aaron Judge does give them reason for hope in 2024.

Cole, who won the Cy Young Award, led all AL East players with an overall base value of 130. Judge, the power-hitting outfielder, finished second in the division with an OBV of 123, despite an injury-shortened season.

Nobody else in the AL East reached triple digits. Pitcher Kyle Bradish of the Orioles ranked third with a value of 96.

A positive OBV indicates one of two things:

• A particular batter reached more bases than the average big leaguer would have attained under identical circumstances.

• A given pitcher surrendered fewer bases than his typical counterpart would have yielded under the same conditions.

Cole, for example, allowed opposing hitters to attain 311 bases through hits, walks, hit batters, stolen bases, and sacrifices in 2023. An average big-league pitcher who induced 626 outs, as Cole did, would have allowed 441 bases. Cole improved upon that number by 130 bases, hence his division-leading OBV.

The formula is reversed for hitters, including Judge, who reached 319 bases and made 278 outs. The former total was 123 larger than the 196 bases that a typical batter would have reached under the same circumstances.

The assumption, of course, is that Cole and Judge will enter the 2024 season with substantial momentum — a full head of steam, as it were. They are the hottest players in the AL East, which is potentially good news for the Yankees.

The division’s coldest player also suited up for the Yankees in 2023, though he’ll wear a different uniform in 2024. Pitcher Luis Severino went 4-8 with a 6.65 ERA in 89.1 innings of work. His overall base value was an untidy minus-69.

The Yankees let Severino walk after the season, and he signed in December with the crosstown Mets.

Scroll down to see who’s hot — and who’s not — in the American League East as the new season looms. And keep in mind that several of these players, especially on the latter list, will have new employers in the coming year.

I’ll return on Friday with my AL East predictions for 2024.

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• 1. Gerrit Cole, Yankees, OBV 130

• 2. Aaron Judge, Yankees, OBV 123

• 3. Kyle Bradish, Orioles, OBV 96

• 4. Yandy Diaz, Rays, OBV 88

• 5. Zach Eflin, Rays, OBV 84

• 6. Rafael Devers, Red Sox, OBV 60

• 7. Josh Lowe, Rays, OBV 59

• 8. Triston Casas, Red Sox, OBV 54

• 9. Isaac Paredes, Rays, OBV 52

• 9. Randy Arozarena, Rays, OBV 52

• 1. Luis Severino, Yankees, OBV -69

• 2. Alek Manoah, Blue Jays, OBV -58

• 3. Corey Kluber, Red Sox, OBV -53

• 4. Enrique Hernandez, Red Sox, OBV -48

• 5. Christian Bethancourt, Rays, OBV -47

• 6. Oswaldo Cabrera, Yankees, OBV -44

• 7. Jose Trevino, Yankees, OBV -32

• 7. Oswald Peraza, Yankees, OBV -32

• 9. Alejandro Kirk, Blue Jays, OBV -30

• 9. Carlos Rodon, Yankees, OBV -30

• 9. Christian Arroyo, Red Sox, OBV -30