DUNEDIN, Fla. — It is spring training. Perhaps the most bizarre one ever that doesn’t involve replacement players.

So less than two weeks ago Jordan Montgomery was facing teenagers from his alma mater, Sumter (S.C.) High School. On Tuesday, he was making his first start of this strange exhibition season simultaneous to the rescheduled deadline for him and 100-plus other arbitration eligible players to reach a settlement for a 2022 contract or file numbers for a hearing. The lefty said it was distracting and that his agent, Scott Boras, was upset that he even had to pitch on this vital negotiating day.

Yet, even with all of the elements to downplay the relevance of any results, it was hard to miss what Montgomery didn’t miss — which were the bats of the Blue Jays’ mostly “A” lineup. George Springer, Bo Bichette, Vlad Guerrero Jr. and Lourdes Gurriel scorched hits to open the first inning and Matt Chapman darted a sacrifice fly. Montgomery was knocked out. This being a bizarre spring, he was allowed re-entry in the second inning and was knocked out again.

Yes, Montgomery was trying to refine a fastball that he would not throw in certain regular-season counts. But this lineup is ferocious, a March 22 calling card of the atmosphere the Yankees will again be operating within in the AL East. Four teams won at least 91 games last year and those four — the Rays, Red Sox, Yankees and Blue Jays — are viewed by pretty much every projection model or gambling site to be four of the AL’s six best teams this year.

In 2022, with playoffs expanding to six teams in each league, maybe all of them can get in (Toronto missed last year). Either way, Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro described this assemblage this way: “The division is a beast. You’ve got one of the best-run franchises [Rays] in professional sports. They make outstanding decisions and get the most out of their players and how to use them and how to game plan and how to develop. You’ve got two of the most robust markets [New York and Boston] that also are well run and make good decisions. And we’re excited to feel we are at the level of those teams now.”

The Blue Jays are, in many ways, the flavor of the month. Which is intriguing because the AL Cy Young winner, Robbie Ray, left via free agency for the Mariners and so did Marcus Semien, who translated his third-place MVP finish into a seven-year, $175 million pact with the Rangers. But Toronto has the second-place MVP finisher still in Guerrero and traded for the power-hitting third baseman Chapman, who might be the best defensive player in the game. Kevin Gausman, sixth in the NL Cy voting last year, was signed to replace Ray, and Yusei Kikuchi also was added.

FanGraphs simulation likes the Blue Jays enough to forecast they take the AL East with 93 victories followed by the Yankees (91), Red Sox (87) and Rays (86). The Blue Jays, who played home games in Dunedin, Buffalo and Toronto last year due to COVID-19 restrictions, actually might have a substantial home edge coming. No unvaccinated player is currently allowed into Canada. So that is a combined 27 home games against the Blue Jays in which the Yankees, Rays and Red Sox might have to play short-handed. The Yankees and Mets also still currently face playing without unvaccinated players at home.

But even at full strength, the Yankees will have to walk through divisional hell if they are to capture just their second AL East title in the last 10 seasons and assure a playoff spot.

As Gerrit Cole said, “It’s no messing around, this division.”

The Rays might not make splashy moves — though they sure tried with Freddie Freeman. But they have the majors’ fourth best record over the last four seasons, are the two-time defending division champs and have a burgeoning offense that will include a full season of Wander Franco.

The Red Sox upgraded their lineup and probably their defense with last weekend’s signing of Trevor Story. In three seasons that Alex Cora has managed Boston, its record is 284-202.

The Blue Jays have that wrecking ball offense, especially if they get a full season out of Springer that they did not in 2021. Plus, they have built a strong rotation on the fly the past few years by importing Gausman, Kikuchi, Hyun-jin Ryu and Jose Berrios and drafting Alek Manoah.

The key to the division might just be the other team. The Orioles have not had a winning record against any of the other four teams in the division in each of the last four seasons. And in the last three full 162-game seasons (2018, 2019, 2021), the AL East winner was a combined 51-6 against the Orioles. That is not a typo. If you want to win the East, you better destroy the least.

Yet, Anthony Rizzo offered different advice about not looking to the top or bottom of the division.

“You can anticipate whatever you want,” Rizzo cautioned. “You’ve got to take care of your own business and you can’t worry about what the Blue Jays are doing or the Red Sox or the Orioles. You need to worry about yourself and you take care of the in-house stuff. Keep your head down and stay focused. You start looking at the other teams and how it might affect you and then you have hurt your own preparation.”